District Court Ruling Indicates That Journalists Can Be Charged For Disseminating Classified Information

The noose tightens a bit for reporters responsible for disclosing covert government anti-terror programs like the NSA telephone monitoring program and the Treasury Department's tracking of terrorist financing networks.

The federal government may prosecute private citizens who illegally receive and retransmit classified information, held federal district court Judge T.S. Ellis III yesterday in United States v. Rosen. Judge Ellis denied a motion to dismiss filed by Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former employees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), who are being prosecuted under the Espionage Act for obtaining classified information and communicating it to third parties, including members of the media.

Apparently the ruling requires that a person held in violation of the Espionage Act must both have wilfully disseminated the classified information and have know that it was classified. Still, though, even with that narrowing of the ruling's implications I think it directly applies to pretty much all of the media's disclosures of classified information.

Certainly the New York Times reporters responsible for outing the NSA and Treasury Department programs knew that the information they has was classified and decided to make it public anyway.

My guess is that there are a lot of nervous journalists out there tonight. As well there should be.