The Justice Department announced Thursday that an employee of the DIA pleaded guilty to leaking classified national defense information to two journalists in 2018 and 2019, which could land him in prison for a maximum of ten years.
Leaking classified information is, of course, against the law – that is, unless you are former FBI Director James Comey or former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. There are others too, for example a former deputy assistant director of the FBI’s international operations division, who also was called out by the DOJ’s Inspector General for allegedly leaking to reporters and accepting gifts from the media, as reported in The Washington Examiner.
Further, FBI officials altered Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant applications to spy on Carter Page, a U.S. citizen, who happened to be a volunteer for President Donald Trump’s campaign. Now, years later, after multiple investigations it was discovered that those same FBI officials, Comey and McCabe, among others, signed off on the phony warrants.
Still, senior government officials in the FBI – as well as other agencies – have escaped prosecution for leaking classified information and or lying under oath. Others have not been so lucky.
Defense Intelligence Agency employee Henry Kyle Frese is one of the unlucky leakers. Frese, a 31-year-old resident of Alexandria, Virginia, is expected to be sentenced on June 18.
Frese “was entrusted with Top Secret information related to the national defense of our country. Frese violated that trust, the oath he swore to uphold, and engaged in felonious conduct at the expense of our country. This case should serve as a clear reminder to all of those similarly entrusted with National Defense Information that unilaterally disclosing such information for personal gain, or that of others, is not selfless or heroic, it is criminal,” ” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Robert Wells, Acting Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division said “Frese violated his sworn oath to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States by using his access to the United States’ most sensitive information and steal state secrets for nothing more than personal gain. The men and women of the FBI who investigated this case swore the same oath but unlike Mr. Frese, they chose to uphold it. I am proud of the work they did to hold Mr. Frese accountable for his actions.”
There is no argument that Frese should pay the price for leaking classified national security information to the press but what does it say when the DOJ refuses to prosecute former senior FBI officials, who were referred for prosecution on similar grounds. What does it say when leadership within the FBI, like Comey, sets a precedent that leaking for personal convictions won’t land you in prison. Couldn’t Frese argue that same point?
Over the past three years it appears there is one set of rules for those with friends in high places and another set of rules for those without. Last year, nearly half a dozen federal employees with the “FBI, DEA, a U.S. attorney and U.S. marshal officials were allowed to retire, do volunteer work, or keep their jobs as they escaped criminal charges that everyday Americans probably would...
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