Prosecution of Journalists Is Possible in NSA Leaks
Possible? How about prosecutions probable in NSA leaks! The New York Times leaked the story, and with that are reprocussions.
On the talk show, when asked if journalists could be prosecuted for publishing classified information, Gonzales responded, “There are some statutes on the book which, if you read the language carefully, would seem to indicate that that is a possibility.”
He was referring to the 1917 Espionage Act, which made it a crime for an unauthorized person to receive national defense information and transmit it to others.
Under that act, the Justice Department is prosecuting two former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for receiving and transmitting classified information they received from a Defense Department official, who recently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III, who is presiding over the AIPAC case, is weighing a motion to dismiss the charges based on the defendants’ claim that the 89-year-old espionage statute is unconstitutionally vague and might violate the First Amendment.
Yesterday, Gonzales said, “I understand very much the role that the press plays in our society, the protection under the First Amendment we want to promote and respect . . . but it can’t be the case that that right trumps over the right that Americans would like to see, the ability of the federal government to go after criminal activity.”
As for the Times, he said, “As we do in every case, it’s a case-by-case evaluation about what the evidence shows us, our interpretation of the law. We have an obligation to enforce the law and to prosecute those who engage in criminal activity.”
I would be interested to see if these prosecutions are done in open court, which the left would love, of if they would be conducted by an NSA court.
See the reaction of the left here:
Think Progress, The Democratic Daily, Pacific Views, and The New York Times
Loading ...
May 22, 2006 - 07:21 AM on May 22nd, 2006
This is just another attempt by this administration to take this country into a fascist direction. Not only is he signaling to the Times that they better tow the administration’s line, but he’s also letting other media outlets know that this regime intends to chill their speech, especially when it comes to disclosures of this administration’s crimes and other wrongdoings. These guys work for us, The People, and they are accountable to us. If the right-wing controlled Congress did its job at oversight, we wouldn’t need journalists to do the whistleblowing. This possible (or probable) descendent of illegal immigrants needs to stop giving hypocritical advice to his boss. Had he done his job at the outset, we wouldn’t be engaged in this debate about curbing press freedoms.
May 22, 2006 - 07:30 AM on May 22nd, 2006
So are you saying you and those on the Right would support secret trials? Are you proposing secret trials of journalists from the New York Times?
Man, you guys have really gone off the deep end if that’s what you want. You need to take a deep breath and step back from that precipice. Secret trials of Americans in America? Whew.
I sure hope that isn’t what you mean.
May 22, 2006 - 07:41 AM on May 22nd, 2006
yes Pug..we want “secret” trials, “secret” prisons “Secret” phone taps…….
What’s wrong with you morons???? The myriad leaks coming out of the NYT constitute horrendous breaches of our national security..if you ask me, they should be locked up, without trial.
May 22, 2006 - 07:45 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Between Matt and Pug, I am not sure which is worse. Matt, this isn’t about towing the line for the administration. This is about breaking the law and revealing programs that are “secret”. They are not secret anymore are they? You both seem to be under the impression that the press can run any story they want without reprocussions. The law is not on their side. The trial may very well be conducted in secret due to the nature of the program. The Times knew the risk of running the story. They can suffer the consequenses associated with it.
May 22, 2006 - 07:49 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Had he done his job at the outset, we wouldn’t be engaged in this debate about curbing press freedoms. Oh I forgot, it’s all GWB’s fault!
May 22, 2006 - 08:17 AM on May 22nd, 2006
The list of grievous offenses by the NY Times just keeps getting longer and longer. If this was the Civil War, Lincoln would have shut it down and jailed their propagandists, I mean, “journalists” long ago.
The NY Times should be closed down. It is nothing more than a leftist propaganda rag, intent on undermining America while we are at war. The sources of those “leaks” should be ferreted out too, and they should be fired, lose all pensions and benefits, and go to prison right alongside the NY Times management and so-called “journalists”.
Don’t bother, Leftists, to remind us that the Press has some sacred duty to be the watchdog of Freedom, of the Govt. They do, but it is one that was abandoned about 30 years ago by them, when the ownership of the MSM organization began consolidating and now just a very few hands control what the majority of Americans see and hear as “news”.
None of these recent stories like the wiretapping of calls originating from overseas, or the data mining of phone records, constitute anything more than what sane Americans expect would be done to uncover terrorist cells and infiltrators; catch them before they attack again. Yet the BHDS media, like the NY Slimes, leak them, trumpet them as hate Bush stories, and end up taking the side of the enemy. The MSM press is no longer the watchdog, they are part of the threat to America.
The Leftists have gone way too far. They are part of the problem, not the solution.
May 22, 2006 - 08:22 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Robert, there is no need to shut the Times down. They are running themselves into the ground!:wink:
May 22, 2006 - 09:16 AM on May 22nd, 2006
There is no reason on this earth why being a journalist should exclude you and somehow protect you from getting in trouble if you commit this kind of crime. It’s treasonous and written that if someone leaks classified information it’s a CRIME. There is no in between. And just for posters 1 and 2 it wouldn’t matter if it happened while a dem was in office. It would STILL be a crime.
May 22, 2006 - 10:32 AM on May 22nd, 2006
yes Pug..we want “secret”trials, “secret”prisons “Secret”phone taps::.
Those are all wonderful things to stand for, Mike. You are a real red-blooded American. I don’t think you should be calling anyone a moron.
May 22, 2006 - 10:37 AM on May 22nd, 2006
9- I guess Mike should have spelled out s-a-r-c-a-s-m for you Pug. You really don’t get who has jusisdiction on this do you? You really have no idea why it was against the law for them to report this do you? You really don’t understand the role of the NSA, do you Pug?
May 22, 2006 - 10:43 AM on May 22nd, 2006
What we don’t want is Leftist boll weevils illegally disclosing national security secrets for political purposes. And that position is something every red-blooded American should support.
May 22, 2006 - 11:08 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Robert….”Leftist boll weevils”????:lol:
May 22, 2006 - 11:15 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Yes, that is the term I often use for them. The Boll Weevil is a worm that burrows into the Cotton Boll (flower) and eats it. It destroys the cotton plant from within. It is a fitting comparison/analogy, since it is a worm (like the Leftists) and destroys from within. Like the Leftist fifth column does here.
May 22, 2006 - 11:18 AM on May 22nd, 2006
My mistake; it is a small beetle, not a worm. Here’s a dicitionary definition:
A small, grayish, long-snouted beetle (Anthonomus grandis) of Mexico and the southern United States, having adults that puncture cotton buds and larvae that hatch in and damage cotton bolls.â€
The point is, they burrow in, destroy, undermine, weaken from within. The very description of the Leftists.
May 22, 2006 - 11:21 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Apparently, even the quotation marks weren’t enough for that dunderhead to pick up on the sarcasm.
Nobody ever mistook liberals for geniuses.
May 22, 2006 - 11:50 AM on May 22nd, 2006
Gee Robert, I didn’t realize how much of an analogy that was but you are brilliant. Do you mind if I borrow the term? It certainly does fit for most liberals.
May 22, 2006 - 12:04 PM on May 22nd, 2006
BonBon, yes, by all means, use it because it does fit. And I wish that my term “Democrite” would catch on because it perfectly describes the DemokRats.
And you know, re-reading that definition I posted, actually it is the larvae (worm) form that burrows into and eats the cotton boll. So yes, it is a worm, the Leftists are worms, and the original analogy fits like a glove!
May 22, 2006 - 08:27 PM on May 22nd, 2006
I believe that there is a HUGE educational disconnect in this country wherein people are being taught that they have the “right” to do damn near anything without having to take responsibility for their actions. This is just another case of that. The liberals in this country are constantly screaming about the rights of this or that, but other than claiming that everything in the world is Bush’s fault, they never take or assign responsibility for anything.
Persons who leak classified information (and there are multiple levels of classification) should be jailed whether journalists or not. Perhaps the jail sentence should be determined by the level of classification of the information released. “Confidential” a six month in jail and a $5,000 fine, “Secret”, 3-5 years in prison and a $20,000 fine, etc, etc.
At one point in time, journalists acted in what they thought would be the best interests of the country. Now they act in whatever way they think will best benefit them. While they once would kill stories that might damage the reputation of this country, now they seek, and when necessary, fabricate them. The above the fold fabricated story is retracted below the fold on page b-16 and they call that fair reporting.
Perhaps the proper response would be for the victims of the next terrorist attack to sue the journalist who published the story about the surveillance program that the terrorists were then able to avoid.
May 23, 2006 - 11:45 PM on May 23rd, 2006
boys, boys its not about left or right its about the third world America, or as i like to say the former USA. AND THE TERRORISTS DON’T HAVE TO read the journalist , just ask the government and it will help in the next attack, just look at the borders and ask why!