Ex-FBI agent to plead guilty to leaking information and FREEDOM OF PRESS - Nana Johnson (2nd Period)

Summary: A former FBI explosives expert said he will plead guilty to revealing confidential information to Associated Press about a U.S. intelligence operation in Yemen last year. It was said that the FBI had the bomb that al-Qaida’s Yemen branch hoped to launch near Osama bin Laden’s death anniversary. Sachtleben admitted that he released the information to the reporter, and also admitted to distributing and possessing pornographic images of underage girls. He will serve in prison for 11 years and eight months for both of his crimes. The government began tracing the AP’s phone records and other information in hopes to find the source, which led to them finding Sachtleben. The AP’s reporters strongly protested the way the government was investigating their journalism, and did not cooperate in the investigation. The government has been taking more legal action under Obama’s administration in pursuit of people who have revealed government secrets. Because of Sachtleben’s child pornography, they were able to have access to his telephone and computer records, which led them to finding out about the leaked information. The issue is being seen on a larger scale about protection of journalists versus national security.

This article was written by someone else in the Associated Press, so it may be slightly biased toward the freedom of journalism. This article is written to give information to the reader not only about an information leak, but to be able to see what the government is doing in order to pursue the interests of the country. This article also shows how information can easily be leaked without ever knowing where the source was. If it weren’t for Sachtleben’s child pornography, they probably would still be searching for the source. Luckily, the information released by Sachtleben wasn’t overly threatening to the country, but many politicians are worried because of the situation we’d be in if the information was even more confidential. The larger picture I think the author wants people to be aware of is the measures the government is taking to track information leaks. This article makes it sound as though the government isn’t taking into consideration the protection of journalists from government subpoenas. Obama stated that Congress should consider a law to protect journalists from government subpoenas and allow judges to decide whether national security is more important than press freedoms. I can see that the journalists feel as though their First Amendment is being ignored, but I think that national security is a much bigger concern. The argument against that is that our freedom may slowly be taken away, but I honestly think that its in our best interest to keep government secrets secure. If the government had no secrets, we’d be even more vulnerable towards other countries.

http://news.yahoo.com/ex-fbi-agent-plead-guilty-being-ap-source-215042557.html