Kiriakou writes: "Hillary Clinton should be charged with espionage. Not
really. And I don't think she will be. But if the Obama administration is
going to be consistent in its treatment of those who leak classified
information, Clinton ought to face charges under the Espionage Act."
John Kiriakou in the documentary Silenced. (photo: AFI Docs)
Obama Should Charge Clinton With Espionage
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
23 August 15
Hillary Clinton should be charged with espionage. Not really. And I don't
think she will be. But if the Obama administration is going to be consistent
in its treatment of those who leak classified information, Clinton ought to
face charges under the Espionage Act.
The Espionage Act was written in 1917 to combat German saboteurs during the
First World War. Between 1917 and 2008, it was used three times to charge
Americans who had passed classified information to the press. Since Barack
Obama became president, however, his Justice Department has charged eight
Americans with espionage. I know. I'm one of them. And none of us gave
classified information to a foreign government. In fact, most of us were
whistleblowers, exposing evidence of government waste, fraud, abuse, or
illegality.
The Espionage Act is actually pretty simple. It says that a person is guilty
of espionage if he provides "national defense information to any person not
entitled to receive it." The problem is that it does not define what
"national defense information" is. It doesn't mention "classified
information" because it was written so long ago that the classification
system hadn't even been invented yet.
It also doesn't address the problem of overclassification. Who classifies
federal documents? Everybody. I did during my 15 years at the CIA. If I
wanted to meet a colleague for lunch in the CIA cafeteria, for example, I
would send him an email and classify it "Secret." Why? That was standard
operating procedure. We all did it. Everything was classified. Even when it
wasn't.
The Espionage Act also doesn't address the issue of disclosing classified
information for the public good. There's no affirmative defense in an
Espionage Act case. For example, Edward Snowden told us that the NSA was
spying on Americans, which is against the law and prohibited by the NSA's
charter. Instead of thanking him, the Justice Department charged him with
espionage. I blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program. Torture is
against U.S. law and myriad international treaties and conventions to which
the U.S. is a signatory. I ended up with three espionage counts. (They were
all eventually dropped.)
But if the Obama administration is going to be consistent in its use of the
Espionage Act, it will have to charge Hillary Clinton with espionage because
of her alleged passage of classified information using an unclassified
server. The FBI is currently investigating, and I would bet that it
recommends a criminal case against Clinton to the attorney general. A
prosecution will never happen, though.
The Obama administration has been highly hypocritical in its use of the
Espionage Act. If you're a friend of the president, like General James
Cartwright or former CIA director Leon Panetta, you get a pass. General
Cartwright, who has been identified in the press as the president's favorite
general," allegedly told the New York Times that the U.S. was behind the
Stuxnet virus that infected computers being used in the Iranian nuclear
program. Director Panetta revealed the name of the Navy Seal who killed
Osama bin Laden to an audience that included an uncleared Hollywood
producer. And General David Petraeus, who leaked highly-classified
information, including the names of undercover CIA operatives, to his
girlfriend, got a sweetheart deal that ended up as a misdemeanor, with no
espionage charge.
In all of these cases, the FBI reportedly recommended charges of espionage.
But the decision to prosecute is political. It's made by the attorney
general and the president. The Espionage Act is a political weapon. If
you're a friend of the president, you don't have to worry. If you expose
wrongdoing, your life will be changed forever. Hillary Clinton doesn't have
anything to worry about.
________________________________________
John Kiriakou is an Associate Fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies
in Washington DC. He is a former CIA counterterrorism operations officer and
former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
John Kiriakou in the documentary Silenced. (photo: AFI Docs)
http://www.readersupportednews.org/http://www.readersupportednews.org/
Obama Should Charge Clinton With Espionage
By John Kiriakou, Reader Supported News
23 August 15
illary Clinton should be charged with espionage. Not really. And I don't
think she will be. But if the Obama administration is going to be consistent
in its treatment of those who leak classified information, Clinton ought to
face charges under the Espionage Act.
The Espionage Act was written in 1917 to combat German saboteurs during the
First World War. Between 1917 and 2008, it was used three times to charge
Americans who had passed classified information to the press. Since Barack
Obama became president, however, his Justice Department has charged eight
Americans with espionage. I know. I'm one of them. And none of us gave
classified information to a foreign government. In fact, most of us were
whistleblowers, exposing evidence of government waste, fraud, abuse, or
illegality.
The Espionage Act is actually pretty simple. It says that a person is guilty
of espionage if he provides "national defense information to any person not
entitled to receive it." The problem is that it does not define what
"national defense information" is. It doesn't mention "classified
information" because it was written so long ago that the classification
system hadn't even been invented yet.
It also doesn't address the problem of overclassification. Who classifies
federal documents? Everybody. I did during my 15 years at the CIA. If I
wanted to meet a colleague for lunch in the CIA cafeteria, for example, I
would send him an email and classify it "Secret." Why? That was standard
operating procedure. We all did it. Everything was classified. Even when it
wasn't.
The Espionage Act also doesn't address the issue of disclosing classified
information for the public good. There's no affirmative defense in an
Espionage Act case. For example, Edward Snowden told us that the NSA was
spying on Americans, which is against the law and prohibited by the NSA's
charter. Instead of thanking him, the Justice Department charged him with
espionage. I blew the whistle on the CIA's torture program. Torture is
against U.S. law and myriad international treaties and conventions to which
the U.S. is a signatory. I ended up with three espionage counts. (They were
all eventually dropped.)
But if the Obama administration is going to be consistent in its use of the
Espionage Act, it will have to charge Hillary Clinton with espionage because
of her alleged passage of classified information using an unclassified
server. The FBI is currently investigating, and I would bet that it
recommends a criminal case against Clinton to the attorney general. A
prosecution will never happen, though.
The Obama administration has been highly hypocritical in its use of the
Espionage Act. If you're a friend of the president, like General James
Cartwright or former CIA director Leon Panetta, you get a pass. General
Cartwright, who has been identified in the press as the president's favorite
general," allegedly told the New York Times that the U.S. was behind the
Stuxnet virus that infected computers being used in the Iranian nuclear
program. Director Panetta revealed the name of the Navy Seal who killed
Osama bin Laden to an audience that included an uncleared Hollywood
producer. And General David Petraeus, who leaked highly-classified
information, including the names of undercover CIA operatives, to his
girlfriend, got a sweetheart deal that ended up as a misdemeanor, with no
espionage charge.
In all of these cases, the FBI reportedly recommended charges of espionage.
But the decision to prosecute is political. It's made by the attorney
general and the president. The Espionage Act is a political weapon. If
you're a friend of the president, you don't have to worry. If you expose
wrongdoing, your life will be changed forever. Hillary Clinton doesn't have
anything to worry about.
John Kiriakou is an Associate Fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies
in Washington DC. He is a former CIA counterterrorism operations officer and
former senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission
to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader
Supported News.
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
http://e-max.it/posizionamento-siti-web/socialize
