What should happen to people who intentionally leak secret government documents?

Pecos said:
Some of them are over the top and tend to forget that we try to be a nation of laws with due process.
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Absolutely! That‘s why in the military we have the Court Martial or in this case perhaps a civilian court, but definitely not a firing squad waiting for the order (from who?) to shoot someone.
 

There's an old fashioned name for this, it's called called treason.

in the Uk it used meant a trip to the Tower via the river entrance, Traitors Gate and the only way out is in a box.

nowadays it's called freedom of speech.
 
It’s well known that over 1,000,000 people have access to top secret documents. I am a Lt. Col. (Ret.) in the Marines and I had access to the same documents. I very rarely looked at any of the documents that came across my desk. Unless it was marked specifically “MCRD” or “MCAS” I was usually not interested. Anytime I left my office, the door would lock. There was also a camera pointed at my door.
 
Been There said:
It’s well known that over 1,000,000 people have access to top secret documents. I am a Lt. Col. (Ret.) in the Marines and I had access to the same documents. I very rarely looked at any of the documents that came across my desk. Unless it was marked specifically “MCRD” or “MCAS” I was usually not interested. Anytime I left my office, the door would lock. There was also a camera pointed at my door.
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I went into the Navy when I was 17 and held a high-level clearance for the vast majority of my 31 years. Then I continued for my 14-year civilian career. When I finally retired at 63, I was very happy to turn in my badge, get debriefed and walk out the door for good. Frankly, at that point, I was tired of the whole business including worrying about the possibility of my subordinates getting sloppy in the way they handled things. I also had a couple of seniors that I clashed with when they got sloppy.

But thankfully, I never had anyone pull a stunt like this kid. I have contemplated whether I would have been able to prevent it and have concluded that it would have been nearly impossible. The aftermath will be pure hell for anyone in his chain of command.

I also don't miss all the hassle associated with having a clearance: the random polygraphs, the frequent "pee in a bottle" episodes, all the briefings, all the paperwork, and all the other stuff. While much of it was interesting, I am so glad to be away from that rodeo.
 
Alligatorob said:
I think they should probably go to jail for a very long time, maybe life. Politically motivated or not they often don't understand the damage they do, in some cases putting lives at risk.

I'm talking about people who intentionally release these, not sloppy folks who have a few in their garage but shouldn't.

I think we probably keep too many things secret but that is a different issue. If we allow individuals to make decisions like this with impunity we will have problems, already have...

Jack Teixeira: Suspect arrested over leaked Pentagon documents
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65269975
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Definitely strong punishment by jailing. It is absolutely not on. I remember vaguely a British man a few years ago who shut down entire American defence departments. It is so dangerous and costly. I don't blame them for being so angry.
 
I understand anger and dismay in connection with this young man's foolishness. Should he be punished? Yes! But the death penalty? The thought that anyone in this forum is okay with that sickens me! We are talking about a very young man, insecure, foolish, wanting to be admired for an unusual feat of daring. "Hey, look at me, I have access to top secret material!" He's not a spy, doesn't even see himself as a traitor! Firing squad? Really?
 
Pecos said:
I went into the Navy when I was 17 and held a high-level clearance for the vast majority of my 31 years. Then I continued for my 14-year civilian career. When I finally retired at 63, I was very happy to turn in my badge, get debriefed and walk out the door for good. Frankly, at that point, I was tired of the whole business including worrying about the possibility of my subordinates getting sloppy in the way they handled things. I also had a couple of seniors that I clashed with when they got sloppy.

But thankfully, I never had anyone pull a stunt like this kid. I have contemplated whether I would have been able to prevent it and have concluded that it would have been nearly impossible. The aftermath will be pure hell for anyone in his chain of command.

I also don't miss all the hassle associated with having a clearance: the random polygraphs, the frequent "pee in a bottle" episodes, all the briefings, all the paperwork, and all the other stuff. While much of it was interesting, I am so glad to be away from that rodeo.
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Amen, Brother. Amen.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I think it depends on the secret. If the government was engaged in morally bankrupt, illegal activities, which were infringing on human rights; I'd probably be okay with those secrets being exposed. Other wise, it's disgruntled individuals airing their own sense of justice.
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When it exposes illegal activities, it's called whistle-blowing. In this case, the kid was just trying to show off to his little friends on the right-wing forums, or so it seems.
 
SeniorBen said:
When it exposes illegal activities, it's called whistle-blowing.
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I agree, but that can be a hard line to know has been crossed. The leaker rarely if ever knows the whole story, and also doesn't know the full extent of the damage they may be doing.

We need better oversight and review of our secret things, and somewhere a legitimate whistleblower can go other than leaks to the press. The second may already exist, I don't know.
 
Alligatorob said:
I agree, but that can be a hard line to know has been crossed. The leaker rarely if ever knows the whole story, and also doesn't know the full extent of the damage they may be doing.

We need better oversight and review of our secret things, and somewhere a legitimate whistleblower can go other than leaks to the press. The second may already exist, I don't know.
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I got my first SSBI clearance in the late '90s. A retired FBI agent did my background check and talked to everyone I had known for the previous ten years and looked into every place I lived. After two years, I went to work for on a non-military project and my clearance lapsed.

I got another clearance in the mid '2000s. By that time, investigations had been privatized and some kid did my background check. I don't think he did anything other than maybe check to see if I had been convicted of any crimes since my previous clearance lapsed.

A lot of these clearances are handed out like candy so military contractors can say they have the personnel to do the job and can be awarded multi-billion dollar contracts. The security of our nation isn't high on the list of priorities. Money is at the very top and everything else is far down.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
I think it depends on the secret. If the government was engaged in morally bankrupt, illegal activities, which were infringing on human rights; I'd probably be okay with those secrets being exposed. Other wise, it's disgruntled individuals airing their own sense of justice.
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The problem with that reasoning is that it is not up to you, me, or anyone entrusted with the secrets in question to decide what is, or is not, morally bankrupt and eligible for leakage. As for illegal, that is up to a court to decide - once again, not you or me. Those entrusted with government or military secrets are not also granted the right to decide whether or not to release those secrets to whomever they wish based on their whims or desires.
 
ElCastor said:
The problem with that reasoning is that it is not up to you, me, or anyone entrusted with the secrets in question to decide what is, or is not, morally bankrupt and eligible for leakage. As for illegal, that is up to a court to decide - once again, not you or me. Those entrusted with government or military secrets are not also granted the right to decide whether or not to release those secrets to whomever they wish based on their whims or desires.
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Absolutely!

However I know our government has done some illegal things, we do need a good safe outlet for legitimate whistleblowers. That would make us all safer... Still no excuse for the leaks.
 
ElCastor said:
The problem with that reasoning is that it is not up to you, me, or anyone entrusted with the secrets in question to decide what is, or is not, morally bankrupt and eligible for leakage. As for illegal, that is up to a court to decide - once again, not you or me. Those entrusted with government or military secrets are not also granted the right to decide whether or not to release those secrets to whomever they wish based on their whims or desires.
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The ultimate authority as to whether to divulge state secrets is the conscience of the secret holder. Anyone, who knows the secret, has that authority-rightly or wrongly.
 
Alligatorob said:
I think they should probably go to jail for a very long time, maybe life. Politically motivated or not they often don't understand the damage they do, in some cases putting lives at risk.

I'm talking about people who intentionally release these, not sloppy folks who have a few in their garage but shouldn't.

I think we probably keep too many things secret but that is a different issue. If we allow individuals to make decisions like this with impunity we will have problems, already have...

Jack Teixeira: Suspect arrested over leaked Pentagon documents
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65269975
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It's treason, punishable by death. I'm OK with that
 

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