Espionage Act challenged by defense in trial of former CIA officer

Secrecy News’ Steven Aftergood says the federal government has once again seen how awkward it is to use the Espionage Act to indict its employees, in this case Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former CIA officer, for allegedly disclosing classified information to the press.

Aftergood says, “An initial difficulty for the prosecution is that the espionage statute cited against Mr. Sterling (18 USC 793) concerns the protection of ‘national defense information.’ It does not mention ‘classified information.’ The two terms are not synonymous.” -db

From a commentary in Secrecy News, February 28, 2011 by Steven Aftergood.

Full Story