NSA Contractor Who Leaked NSA Document To The Intercept Has Been Arrested

NBC: Feds Arrest NSA Contractor in Leak of Top Secret Russia Document

Barely an hour after a news organization published an article about a Top Secret National Security Agency document on Russian hacking, the Justice Department announced charges against a 25-year-old government contractor who a senior federal official says was the leaker of the document.

The May 5, 2017 intelligence document published by The Intercept, an online news organization, describes new details about Russian efforts to hack voting systems in the U.S a week prior to the 2016 presidential election. While the document doesn’t say the hacking changed any votes, it "raises the possibility that Russian hacking may have breached at least some elements of the voting system, with disconcertingly uncertain results."

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Apparently she confessed to the authorities that she was the person who leaked the NSA document to The Intercept (see post here). She is 25 years old .... here is an easy prediction .... life is not going to be easy for her or for her family from now on.

More News On The Arrest Of The NSA Contractor Who Leaked An NSA Document To 'The Intercept'

First arrest over Trump leaks: Intelligence contractor, 25, is charged under espionage laws for 'handing secret NSA report on Russian election hacking to website' -- Daily Mail
NSA contractor accused of leaking top secret report on Russian hacking efforts -- FOX News
Reality Winner accused of leaking NSA file about Russia hacking US election -- The Guardian
Contractor charged with leaking classified NSA info on Russian hacking -- CNN
Federal contractor arrested after NSA document published on news site -- USA Today
US government contractor arrested after NSA leak report -- BBC
NSA contractor accused of leaking top secret report on Russian hacking efforts -- Slate
Air Force Vet Charged With Leaking NSA Docs On Russian Election Hacking -- Task & Purpose
Mom Shocked at Daughter’s Arrest for Leaking Secrets -- Daily Beast

NSA Contractor Has Been Indicted For Massive Breach Of U.S. Intelligence

Business Insider: A former NSA contractor allegedly stole documents seemingly far more sensitive than anything Snowden made public

Former National Security Agency contractor Harold Martin allegedly stole documents that seem far more sensitive than what has come from the Snowden leaks.

For more than two decades, Martin allegedly made off with highly-classified documents that were found in his home and car that included discussions of the US military's capabilities and gaps in cyberspace, specific targets, and "extremely sensitive" operations against terror groups, according to an indictment released Wednesday.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: When I read stories like this I always say to myself .... what the hell was he thinking?

More News On The NSA Contractor Who Has Been Indicted For Stealing More Than 50T Of Government Secrets

NSA Contractor Could Face 200 Years in Prison for Massive Breach -- Foreign Policy
Former Md. Contractor Indicted for Stealing National Defense Info -- CBS
Former NSA contractor indicted over 50TB gov't classified data theft -- ZDNet
NSA contractor indicted for stealing more than 50TB of government secrets -- Verge
Court indicts contractor who stole NSA's hacking tools -- Endgadget

Justice Department Investigating Ex-Vice Chairman Of Joint Chiefs Of Staff Over Critical Intelligence Leak

Former Senior US General Target Of Probe Into Leak Of Iran cyberattack, Official Says -- FOX News

The former second highest ranking officer in the U.S. military is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information about a covert cyberattack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Fox News confirms.

Retired Marine Gen. James "Hoss" Cartwright is the target of a year-old investigation related in part to information about the Iran cyberattack in a book by David Sanger, a reporter for The New York Times, a senior U.S. official said late Thursday.

A "target" is a person whom a prosecutor or grand jury has substantial evidence linking them to a crime and who is likely to be charged.

Read more ....

More News On Retired US General James Cartwright Being Investigated Over An Intelligence Leak

James Cartwright, retired Marine general, target of Iran leak investigation -- CBS
Retired Gen. James Cartwright Target in Leak Probe, Source Says -- ABC News
Report: Ex-Pentagon general Cartwright target of leak probe -- UPI
Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright under investigation for leaking classified information on Iran’s nuclear facilities: report -- New York Daily News/AP
Retired General Suspected in Leak Probe -- US News and World Report
Retired U.S. General Is Focus of Inquiry Over Iran Leak -- New York Times
Retired Gen. James Cartwright at heart of fed inquiry into Stuxnet virus leak -- Washington Times
Retired General Target of Stuxnet Leak Investigation -- Voice of America
Retired US general James Cartwright suspect in leak over cyber attack -- The Australian
Source: Justice Department investigates ex-vice chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff -- CNN
Iran Stuxnet leak probe: US Gen James Cartwright 'target' -- BBC
Former US general James Cartwright named in Stuxnet leak inquiry -- The Guardian
Retired US general may have leaked Stuxnet cyberattack details' -- The Telegraph
US General James Cartwright under investigation for leaking classified information on Iran cyberattack -- The Independent
US general Cartwright investigated for leaking Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran -- Deutsche Welle
Retired General James Cartwright under investigation for leaking information on cyber operation -- al.com
Ex-US general under investigation for leaks -- Al Jazeera
‘Hoss’ Under Fire: Retired Gen. Cartwright Subject of Federal Probe -- Defense News

Washington Whistle-Blowers Beware

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas Drake, a whistle-blower and former analyst at the National Security Agency, talks about the personal and professional toll resulting from an allegation that he gave a reporter classified information about inefficiencies and cost over-runs in an NSA surveillance program. Drake, who was prosecuted in 2010 by Obama’s Justice Department under the Espionage Act and maintains he never shared classified information, spoke this week to Bloomberg's David Ellis. (Source: Bloomberg)

Obama Pursuing Leakers Sends Warning to Whistle-Blowers -- Bloomberg

Eric Holder, attorney general under President Barack Obama, has prosecuted more government officials for alleged leaks under the World War I-era Espionage Act than all his predecessors combined, including law-and-order Republicans John Mitchell, Edwin Meese and John Ashcroft.

The indictments of six individuals under that spy law have drawn criticism from those who say the president’s crackdown chills dissent, curtails a free press and betrays Obama’s initial promise to “usher in a new era of open government.”

Read more ....

My Comment: If you break the law there are consequences .... I am sure that those who leak classified intel and info know that .... and must be ready for the consequences. Unfortunately for those who have been caught leaking .... according to this Bloomberg report .... it is obvious that they have not prepared themselves for the consequences.

President Obama Furious Over Recent Intelligence Leaks

U.S. Rethinks Intelligence Sharing After Leaks Anger Obama -- Washington Times

President Obama is angry over recent public disclosures of classified information in Washington, and the intelligence community is re-evaluating the post-Sept. 11 push for greater intelligence-sharing, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Wednesday.

"We are working on information-sharing initiatives across the board," Mr. Clapper said in a speech. "But the classic dilemma of need to share versus need to know is still with us. And I would observe that the Wikileaks episode represents what I would consider a big yellow flag. I think it is going to have a very chilling effect on the need to share."

Read more ....

My Comment: To his credit, President Obama deserves recognition that maybe greater intelligence-sharing may result in a greater number of leaks being released to the public .... leaks that may endanger U.S. security. But .... this unfortunately avoids the real big issue which is that intelligence secrets by their nature are very hard to keep under wraps, and in the 24/7 internet universe very easy to transmit and publicized.

Who Leaked Gen. Stanley McChrystal's Afghan Asessment Report

Who leaked Bob Woodward's exclusive on a 66-page report from McChrystal to Obama?
(Composite image by POLITICO)

A D.C. Whodunit: Who Leaked And Why? -- A Politico

Bob Woodward’s Monday-morning exclusive on a 66-page report from Gen. Stanley McChrystal to President Barack Obama about Afghanistan policy was a rite of passage for the new administration: the first major national security leak and a sure sign that the celebrated Washington Post reporter has penetrated yet another administration.

White House officials greeted the leak with a grimace, but none suggested they’d begin a witch hunt for the leaker. Woodward is famous for his access to the principals themselves — he recently traveled to Afghanistan with National Security Adviser James Jones — and leak hunters couldn’t expect with confidence that they’d find themselves disciplining just an undisciplined junior staffer.

Read more ....

My Comment: What a difference a new President makes. Leaks happen to every administration, but these arguments were never brought forward by the media when President Bush was President .... and he had leaks by the dozen.

But what bothers me even more, is that by focusing on the leak, the real story .... Gen. McChrystal's Afghan Assessment .... gets put aside when it should be the issue that we are talking about.

Portrait Of A Benedict Arnold

From Strata-Sphere:

Updated: cleaned up the text, added missing links, basically had more time to do a better job! BTW - welcome Real Clear Politics and Powerline readers.

All traitors think they are on the side of right. All enemies of this country, big and small, think they are agents of divine providence. And so it is with the idiot who exposed the new NSA procedures that were changed after 9-11 when we learned internally that we were blind to terrorists within our midst due to arcane rules which did not protect our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but protected the movement and coordination of mass murderers.

Read more ....

My Comment: I mentioned in previous posts what I think about this delusional man ... but Strata-Sphere summarizes the entire issue better than what I can. Read the whole post.

More Leaks Are Expected From The CIA And Other Intelligence Agencies As President Bush's Term Is About To End

Bush Spy Revelations Anticipated When Obama Is Sworn In -- The Danger Room

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on January 20, Americans won't just get a new president; they might finally learn the full extent of George W. Bush's warrantless domestic wiretapping.

Since The New York Times first revealed in 2005 that the NSA was eavesdropping on citizens' overseas phone calls and e-mail, few additional details about the massive "Terrorist Surveillance Program" have emerged. That's because the Bush administration has stonewalled, misled and denied documents to Congress, and subpoenaed the phone records of the investigative reporters.

Now privacy advocates are hopeful that President Obama will be more forthcoming with information. But for the quickest and most honest account of Bush's illegal policies, they say don't look to the incoming president. Watch instead for the hidden army of would-be whistle-blowers who've been waiting for Inauguration Day to open the spigot on the truth.

Read more ....

My Comment: This is one of President Bush's more negative legacies. The leaking of intelligence information from disgruntled individuals that only serves to put in danger the men who are trying their best to protect us. I do not know exactly what more will come out .... this latest revelation of a secret order permitting entering countries that harbor Al Qaeda elements is not a surprise to me .... but I do expect a few whoppers to come out before Inauguration Day.

The reason why before Inauguration Day .... if this information should come out after January 20th (Inauguration Day) .... President-elect Obama's team would then be accused of politicizing intelligence information.