Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
As part of the Obama administration’s crackdown on leaks, a former CIA officer is expected to plead guilty today to a single charge of disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA operative, the Washington Post reports.
John C. Kiriakou faces up to 30 years in prison for leaking sensitive national defense information to the media.
Kiriakou’s plea is part of an agreement with the Justice Department to drop four other charges.
Kiriakou was charged with violating a 1970s law that makes it illegal to divulge the identities of U.S. intelligence operatives. He would become only the second person convicted of violating that law.
“The government will say that any guilty plea is a win, and the defense will say they were forced into a corner,” said Steven Aftergood, an expert on classification issues with the Federation of American Scientists. “In some sense, they will both be right.”
