Declassified Docs Show NSA Trying To Prosecute A Journalist For His Successful FOIA Requests
from the war-on-whistleblowers,-leakers,-and-FOIA-records-requesters dept
MuckRock has been digging into a large pile of declassified CIA documents for the past several months and has come up with some surprising finds. It recently liberated nearly 13 million pages of CIA documents -- known as the CREST archive -- via a FOIA lawsuit. Since this monumental release, MuckRock has covered everything from a CIA report on an Italian pasta shortage to deeper, darker topics like a CIA asset in Mexico being linked to a long list of atrocities.
Digging through the CIA's archives has dug up dirt on other agencies as well. Emma Best details another MuckRock/CIA gem -- one that shows the NSA attempting to prosecute a journalist for obtaining documents via FOIA requests.
Declassified documents in the Central Intelligence Agency’s archives show that while the CIA was looking to include the Freedom Of Information Act in its war on leaks, the National Security Agency was seriously considering using the Espionage Act to target target Puzzle Palace author James Bamford for using FOIA.
While Bamford has briefly discussed this on a handful of occasions, the declassified memos and briefings from NSA confirm that this was more than just an intimidation tactic or a passing thought - the NSA had truly wanted to jail a journalist for his use of public records. When the Agency determined that this was unlikely to happen, they moved on to exploring other legal avenues which could be used to punish Bamford for his FOIA work.
The chain of events leading up to the NSA's discussion about prosecuting someone for doing something the law specifically allowed unsurprisingly includes legal violations of its own the agency was hoping to keep hidden. What Bamford had obtained was a DOJ Inspector General's report detailing the CIA and NSA's abuse of electronic surveillance.
The NSA felt it should have been notified and given a chance to redact or withhold the documents. The DOJ, understandably, felt no compunction to share the documents with the subject of its investigation while the investigation was still underway. (This makes it surprising the documents ever made their way into Bamford's hands considering ongoing investigations make for handy FOIA exemptions.)
Despite the documents being made public, the NSA tried to argue they were still classified. And if Bamford was in possession of classified documents -- even ones obtained legally through FOIA requests -- he could be made to face espionage charges.
Due to “the serious consequences” of the FOIA disclosure, the NSA Director asked that the DOJ immediately contact Bamford to retrieve the documents along with all copies and to learn who else had that information. The NSA Director also requested that the DOJ tell Bamford “that his retention or disclosure of such information could result in his prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 793 or 798,” which are better known as the Espionage Act.
The government has never been shy about prosecuting whistleblowers and leakers. But in most cases, the documents at the center of the cases haven't been handed over to journalists as the result of a completely legal process. That the NSA would consider pushing for an espionage prosecution over legally-obtained documents shows how far the Intelligence Community is willing to go to protect its reputation.
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Filed Under: doj, espionage act, foia, james bamford, journalism, nsa, transparency
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I'm pretty sure that ships has already sailed.
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Re: Reputation
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"how far the Intelligence Community is willing to go to destroy its reputation"
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Moltivation
Also, have they ever actually been right?
Also, if in fact they do report to some form of Star Chamber rather than the government (which is us) are they concerned that that fact might come out with the release of too much information?
The facts of the article leave me with more questions than answers. And, yes I am very concerned.
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Murder
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What I don't understand is...
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Re: What I don't understand is...
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Re: What I don't understand is...
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Government's regard for the second amendment
According to the government, you have a right to own guns until they have cause to arrest you, then their officers will shoot you for owning a gun, and if you happen to be brought in alive, they'll give you extra charges for committing crimes with a gun.
Some folks in government defend your right to be able to buy weapons, but yeah, don't expect due process once you find yourself on the wrong side of the law.
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Despite the documents being made public, the NSA tried to argue they were still classified. And if Bamford was in possession of classified documents -- even ones obtained legally through FOIA requests -- he could be made to face espionage charges.
Would the NSA also need to charge itself with espionage for releasing the documents in the first place?
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Don't ever open the email attachment "classifieddocumenttrove.zip".
To be on the safe side, maybe I should delete the email account and set the computer on fire, just to prove that I was never in 'posession'.
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That would have been an interesting case...
Assuming it wasn't assigned to a judge that was already bending over the second they spotted a badge, seems the defense would have been pretty trivial to put together there.
"Your Honor, my client received these documents from the Department of Justice though a legal process that allows members of the public to request copies of official documentation. If the Department of Justice was willing to treat the documents in question as falling under the FOIA laws, and able to be shared with members of the public, it would seem that the proper defendant in this case would be that agency, rather than my client for assuming that document handed to him by the Department of Justice were still classified such that they couldn't be shared with members of the public."
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Bamford is more than just a journalist to the IC
It's worth noting that Bamford isn't just any ordinary journalist. He is a former intelligence officer with inside knowledge of the NSA, and someone who has been a whistleblower regarding NSA spying on US citizens.
In other words, this is something that has become depressingly typical...retaliation for whistleblowing.
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Bamford discovers Operation Northwoods false flag
http://www.salon.com/2001/04/25/nsa_3/
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