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think

(11,641 posts)
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 10:39 AM Apr 2016

Will you be punished for revealing classified info? Depends who you are

Not sure if this is suppose to be in GD P but since it mentions Clinton in the intro that's where I'll put it.



Will you be punished for revealing classified info? Depends who you are

By Danielle Brian and Elizabeth Hempowicz - April 28, 2016, 09:01 am

“There’s classified, and then there’s classified.”

So said President Obama in a recent interview when asked about former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. Essentially, the president was saying it was no big deal, despite the findings that classified information was involved.

Yet, the Obama administration has brought more charges under the Espionage Act against officials for allegedly mishandling classified information than all other administrations combined since it was signed into law 99 years ago.

Consider Thomas Drake, a former top NSA official who faced prosecution in 2011 for the “willful retention of national defense information” after communicating unclassified information to The Baltimore Sun regarding illegal surveillance programs at the agency. Eventually, Drake pled guilty to a misdemeanor and the government dropped the espionage charges against him.

Or the case of former CIA agent Jeffrey Sterling, who was convicted for sharing national security documents with a New York Times reporter. Before doing so, Sterling had raised concerns with the Senate Intelligence Committee about a poorly executed CIA operation he was involved with. He is currently serving 42 months in federal prison....

Read more:
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/277579-will-you-be-punished-for-revealing-classified-info-depends-who#


Brian is Project On Government Oversight Executive Director and Hempowicz is Project On Government Oversight Public Policy Associate
24 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Will you be punished for revealing classified info? Depends who you are (Original Post) think Apr 2016 OP
1. What classified information did Clinton "reveal"? JoePhilly Apr 2016 #1
Ask Sidney Blumenthal. Thomas Drake revealed UNCLASSIFIED material and was charged. think Apr 2016 #3
Drake leaked to the Sun. JoePhilly Apr 2016 #5
Drake's was unclassified material. / Sidney Blumenthal didn't work for the State Dept think Apr 2016 #6
Ask Guccifer Nuclear Unicorn Apr 2016 #12
If the article is nonsense, then why is Hillary even being investigated in the first place? 99th_Monkey Apr 2016 #14
So you could not answer any of the direct questions. JoePhilly Apr 2016 #16
Hillary gave her server to an unsecure an unauthorized server farm NWCorona Apr 2016 #17
Um, no. JoePhilly Apr 2016 #20
Prove me wrong. I'll wait. NWCorona Apr 2016 #22
Show actual evidence that any data was "revealed". JoePhilly Apr 2016 #23
You can play semantics all you like NWCorona Apr 2016 #24
"Keep hope alive." DemocratSinceBirth Apr 2016 #2
articles say sat intel data was transmittted in at least one email, to say nothing of amborin Apr 2016 #4
There's a slight difference of magnitude between a private email server NuclearDem Apr 2016 #7
Under the law, they are treated as violations of the same criminal statute. leveymg Apr 2016 #9
Thomas Drake was prosecuted for sharing unclassified information with the US press about illegal spy think Apr 2016 #10
Thank you for clarifying that. leveymg Apr 2016 #13
If HRC is pardoned, so should the rest of them. nt leveymg Apr 2016 #8
There does seem to be a double standard applied to the area of classified information & prosecution think Apr 2016 #11
Consider the case of General Petraeus. 99th_Monkey Apr 2016 #15
Those 22 top secret emails that were found on her server pdsimdars Apr 2016 #18
Though shall not speak ill of Her Majesty... Yurovsky Apr 2016 #21
Funny . . . someone mentioned that after Obama had said pdsimdars Apr 2016 #19

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
1. 1. What classified information did Clinton "reveal"?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 10:44 AM
Apr 2016

2. The folks in the article all WILLINGLY gave classified information to others who were unauthorized to receive it. What information did Clinton WILLINGLY give to some unauthorized person? Please be specific.

3. What kind of idiot would suggest that Clinton violated the Espionage Act?

The article is nonsense.

 

think

(11,641 posts)
3. Ask Sidney Blumenthal. Thomas Drake revealed UNCLASSIFIED material and was charged.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 10:54 AM
Apr 2016

The article is about the uneven use of prosecution of such activities by the Obama administration.

Drake didn't even share classified information and he was prosecuted. He was a whistle blower about illegal spying.

Consider Thomas Drake, a former top NSA official who faced prosecution in 2011 for the “willful retention of national defense information” after communicating unclassified information to The Baltimore Sun regarding illegal surveillance programs at the agency. Eventually, Drake pled guilty to a misdemeanor and the government dropped the espionage charges against him.




 

think

(11,641 posts)
6. Drake's was unclassified material. / Sidney Blumenthal didn't work for the State Dept
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 11:23 AM
Apr 2016

He had access to classified information and was sharing it with Hillary while working for her foundation.

Hillary might not be directly at fault but she knew what he was doing and had him on her payroll.

 

99th_Monkey

(19,326 posts)
14. If the article is nonsense, then why is Hillary even being investigated in the first place?
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:28 PM
Apr 2016

Why -- if Hills is clearly so "innocent" -- is the FBI's investigation dragging
on and on as we near the Democratic Convention?

How is this NOT like the DNC playing Russian Roulette, by openly and
enthusiastically backing a candidate who is facing a possible criminal
indictment, by a Republican FBI Director, the details of which could
easily be leaked at any time?

The level of denial on this by Hillarians is of epic proportions,

JoePhilly

(27,787 posts)
16. So you could not answer any of the direct questions.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:38 PM
Apr 2016

Not a big surprise since there is no evidence of any of those things happening.

The level of magical thinking demonstrated by Bernouts is hilarious.

NWCorona

(8,541 posts)
17. Hillary gave her server to an unsecure an unauthorized server farm
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:52 PM
Apr 2016

That promptly had her emails hosted on the cloud. That's 1 & 2 and we will find out about #3 soon enough.

NWCorona

(8,541 posts)
24. You can play semantics all you like
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:43 PM
Apr 2016

But placing her server in the custody of an unsecured and unauthorized setting is "revealing".

amborin

(16,631 posts)
4. articles say sat intel data was transmittted in at least one email, to say nothing of
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 10:58 AM
Apr 2016

violating FOIA, etc.....

 

NuclearDem

(16,184 posts)
7. There's a slight difference of magnitude between a private email server
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 12:39 PM
Apr 2016

and stealing thousands of documents and giving them to foreign nationals.

leveymg

(36,418 posts)
9. Under the law, they are treated as violations of the same criminal statute.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:11 PM
Apr 2016

Different subsections, but the same statute. 18 USC Sec. 793.

Technically, she could be charged with 1100 counts of violating subsections (e) and (f), as that is the number of classified items found on the server. So, there really isn't that much difference in magnitude.

 

think

(11,641 posts)
10. Thomas Drake was prosecuted for sharing unclassified information with the US press about illegal spy
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:13 PM
Apr 2016

activity.

You're not discussing the actual people being compared in the article and seem to be referring to Snowden.

Thomas Drake, Jeffry Sterling, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General David Petraeus are the people being compared in this article.

 

think

(11,641 posts)
11. There does seem to be a double standard applied to the area of classified information & prosecution
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 01:15 PM
Apr 2016

between the different parties being compared...

 

99th_Monkey

(19,326 posts)
15. Consider the case of General Petraeus.
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 02:37 PM
Apr 2016

The parallels are much closer than the cases cited in the article IMHO.

 

pdsimdars

(6,007 posts)
18. Those 22 top secret emails that were found on her server
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:07 PM
Apr 2016

Those were at the very highest level within the Top Secret classification. They were so sensitive that most people in congress could not look at them and the Inspector General had to have his clearance raised so he could.

And they were sitting on her private server, un-secure and unencrypted for years. I have seen a few mentions of them, like that sat picture of military installations in a foreign country, and listing the real name of a mole in another country, black sites and secret programs that our government would deny the existence of. . . sitting right there on an UNPROTECTED server.

Oh, no big deal, "nothing burger".

Classic denial

Yurovsky

(2,064 posts)
21. Though shall not speak ill of Her Majesty...
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:14 PM
Apr 2016

whether she's getting foreign agents killed his sloppy handling of classified info or raking in millions in corporate blood money, she's doing Goldman Sachs', err, the Lord's work, and one must not be critical.

I guess we just have to accept that we are just the little people, and we must obey rules, whilst royalty is not subject to such petty inconveniences as rules and laws.

 

pdsimdars

(6,007 posts)
19. Funny . . . someone mentioned that after Obama had said
Thu Apr 28, 2016, 03:09 PM
Apr 2016

“There’s classified, and then there’s classified.”

Snowden tweeted. . . There's classified and then there's classified. . . .I wish someone had told me!

Now, that's funny.

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