CIA officer fired for “damaging leak”

I doubt very much that anyone not involved in working with the federal government – and particularly the intelligence community – will grasp the depth of the seismic shock that this headline represents: "CIA Officer Fired for Leaking Classified Info to Media."

A CIA officer has been relieved of his duty after being caught leaking classified information to the media.

CIA officials will not reveal the officer's name, assignment, or the information that was leaked. The firing is a highly unusual move, although there has been an ongoing investigation into leaks in the CIA.

One official called this a "damaging leak" that deals with operational information and said the fired officer "knowingly and willfully" leaked the information to the media and "was caught."

The CIA officer was not in the public affairs office, nor was he someone authorized to talk to the media. The investigation was launched in January by the CIA's security center. It was directed to look at employees who had been exposed to certain intelligence programs. In the course of the investigation, the fired officer admitted discussing classified information including information about classified operations.

Emphasis mine. This is absolutely stunning that a CIA officer cleared to work with classified data and on classified programs would knowingly leak that information to the media. Anyone who has held a clearance knows full well that the government is brutally clear with the warnings about what happens should you divulge classified data. That this officer discussed operational details makes it a question not of whether there will be criminal charges filed, but a matter of whether the hanging will take place on pay-per-view or CSPAN.

There has been a lot made of the term "treason" lately and it gets slung around a lot by people mad at the President and unable to accurately articulate their argument. (Assuming, for the moment, they actually have one warranting articulation.) The disclosure of classified operational data to unauthorized persons who then divulge that data to enemy forces is, in fact, the definition of treason. It's the federal crime that carries a real threat of execution, as well it should. If this turns out to be, as I suspect, the leak that the media relied upon for the reporting of both the NSA's intercept program and the CIA's schedule of detainee flights around the world, then this officer has placed this country and her forces in danger. "Knowingly and willfully…" The penalty for that should be extremely severe. But before any of that happens, that person should be subjected to whatever in needed to find out exactly who he divulged the information to, when, where, and what – specifically – was discussed. The DoJ should take that information and pursue any and all members of the media who knowingly and willfully accepted or solicited such information and published it. They should also bear the brunt of the consequences of this action.

(Thanks to Mudville Gazette for the open post. Michelle Malkin is also on the case.)