A former senior executive at the National Security Agency was charged Thursday with lying and obstruction of justice in an investigation of leaks of classified information to a newspaper.Federal prosecutors said Thomas Drake, 52, served as a source for many articles about the NSA in an unidentified newspaper, including articles that contained classified information.
A federal indictment filed in Maryland charges that Drake used a non-government e-mail account to transmit classified and unclassified information. Authorities also charge that Drake lied to federal agents about what he'd done.
The indictment does not identify the reporter, the newspaper, or the subject matter of the stories. It says the stories were published between February 2006 and November 2007.
"Our national security demands that the sort of conduct alleged here—violating the government's trust by illegally retaining and disclosing classified information—be prosecuted and prosecuted vigorously," said the Justice Department's assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer.
[he] faces five counts of willfully retaining documents related to national defense. He is also charged with obstruction of justice and four counts of making false statements to the FBI.
The most serious charge in the 10-count indictment carries a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison...
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UPDATE
via Lenny Ben-David:
http://www.law.com/jsp/law/LawArticleFriendly.jsp?id= 1202448072393
Lawyer Who Disclosed Classified FBI Information Is Suspended
An attorney who disclosed classified information while working as a contract linguist for the FBI in Maryland has had his license to practice suspended in New York.
Shamai Kedem Leibowitz, an Israeli-American lawyer, acknowledged that he had committed a "serious crime," but asked the Appellate Division, 3rd Department, to set aside the suspension for "good cause" pending his sentencing in Maryland on the federal felony and a final New York disciplinary determination.
Leibowitz insisted in an affirmation to the Appellate Division that he was "not motivated by venality, but rather by misguided patriotism."
..."Given the nature of respondent's offense, we conclude that allowing him to continue to practice is not 'consistent with the maintenance of the integrity and honor of the profession, the protection of the public [or] the interest of justice' (Judiciary Law §90[4][f]), and we therefore deny his request to set aside the interim suspension," the Third Department held in a per curiam ruling....Leibowitz pleaded guilty on Dec. 17 to disclosure of classified information, a violation of 18 U.S.C. §798(a)(3). Under the deal accepted by Maryland District Judge Alexander Williams to resolve United States v. Leibowitz, 09-cv-632, Leibowitz will be sentenced to 20 months in prison. He could have received up to 10 years.
Leibowitz acknowledged before Williams that while working on a contract basis as a linguist for the FBI in Maryland in April 2009, he let five documents classified as "secret" be given to a blogger. Parts of the documents were posted on a blog, though federal prosecutors have not identified the blog or the blogger, to avoid calling undue attention to the information.
But U.S. Department of Justice attorney Steven Dunne reported to the court that the classified information contained disclosures about intelligence sources that compromised national security.
Leibowitz also was accused by federal prosecutors of having four documents that were classified as "secret" at his home in August 2009 in violation of rules against removing sensitive documents from FBI offices.
Leibowitz said in his affirmation to the 3rd Department that he was translating intercepted phone calls from Hebrew to English for the FBI when he came across information about "an abuse of power and a violation of law."...
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