If you receive documents or other information relating to national security from a government employee (or other person who is authorized to access government documents and information), you could be criminally prosecuted for conspiring with that government employee to violate the federal Espionage Act, located at 18 U.S.C. § 793, or for aiding and abetting that employee's violation of the Act.
In a recent and highly controversial case, the Department of Justice prosecuted two lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for conspiring with a former government employee to transmit national defense information to those "not entitled to receive it" in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 793. The indictment alleges that the two lobbyists cultivated a relationship with the former employee in order to gather national defense information relating to U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and transmitted the information to members of the media, foreign policy analysts, and foreign officials. The indictment further charges one of the lobbyists for aiding and abetting the former employee's illegal disclosure of classified national security information by providing a fax machine on which to receive the employee's communications. The federal district court hearing the case held in 2006 that the prosecution did not violate the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. United States v. Rosen, 445 F. Supp.2d 602 (E.D. Va. 2006). read more »
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James Buss, a high school teacher in Wisconsin, anonymously posted a comment on the Boots and Sabers blog under the name "Observer." In the comment, Buss stated that high teacher salaries made him sick and appeared to praise the Columbine High School shooters, stating, "They knew how... read more »