Sessions targeting ‘culture of leaking’
Prosecutors will review Justice policy on subpoenas issued to the media
On the heels of critiques from his boss calling him “weak” on the issue, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that the Justice Department is cracking down on a “culture of leaking” that has frustrated President Donald Trump and contributed to unflattering stories about his administration. Sessions said the problem has ramped up since Trump took office, and probes of unauthorized disclosures have “more than tripled.” He also said the department’s policy on issuing subpoenas to press groups was under review.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a broad crackdown on unauthorized disclosures of classified information Friday, demanding that the “culture of leaking must stop.”
Referring to an “explosion” of such incidents since January, Sessions said the Justice Department has more than tripled the number of active leak investigations compared to the number pending at the end of the Obama administration.
Justice has already received nearly as many criminal referrals involving unauthorized disclosures of classified information than in the previous three years combined, Sessions said.
“I have this warning for would-be leakers: Don’t do it,” Sessions said. “I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks.”
At the same time, Sessions offered an ominous warning to the press, saying that prosecutors have launched a review of Justice policy related to subpoenas issued to media organizations in criminal investigations.
“We respect the important role that the press has and we give them respect, but it is not unlimited,” Sessions said. “They cannot place lives at risk with impunity.”
Sessions’ remarks threatened a break with the Obama Justice Department policy, which asserted that reporters would not be targeted.
Former Attorney General Eric Holder, then taking fire for aggressive investigative tactics taken against journalists, pledged that he would not prosecute reporters for doing their jobs.
The Trump Justice Department, however, offered no such blanket protections, as Sessions also announced the creation of a new counter-intelligence unit within the FBI that would focus exclusively on leaks of classified material to the press and others.
In a briefing following Friday’s announcement, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein declined to comment on whether reporters would be prosecuted under any new policy. But Rosenstein did commit to consulting with media organizations before any new policy is promulgated.
A media advisory group was formed during the Obama administration following a series of actions taken against reporters and news organizations in pursuit of leak investigations.
Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who also condemned the unau-
“No government can be effective when its leaders cannot discuss sensitive matters in confidence.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions
thorized disclosures, appeared together a day after The
Washington Post published complete transcripts of Trump’s first calls with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
“No government can be effective when its leaders cannot discuss sensitive matters in confidence or to talk freely in confidence with foreign leaders,” the attorney general said.
Coats, meanwhile, characterized the steady stream of disclosures as “the worst compromise of classified information in the nation’s history.”
The announcement comes just after President Trump spent much of the past 10 days publicly deriding his attorney general and calling on Sessions to be tougher on leaks from intelligence agencies, which have proved particularly damaging to the White House.
Sessions, who last week described Trump’s criticisms as “hurtful,” said Friday that he and the president were in lock-step on fighting leaks.
“First, let me say I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks undermining the ability of our government to protect this country,” Sessions said.
Trump’s anger over the disclosure of sensitive and classified information has been a consistent theme of his young administration and even before his inauguration.
Less than two weeks before taking office, Trump unleashed a vehement attack against U.S. intelligence agencies, accusing them of leaking the contents of a lurid, unsubstantiated dossier compiled on him.
Intelligence officials denied leaking the document, which had been widely circulated among lawmakers and journalists before its publication.
Yet hours after the dossier’s public disclosure Jan. 10, Trump lashed out at the intelligence agencies, blaming them and comparing their alleged actions to the gestapo tactics of “Nazi Germany.’’
The president’s public criticism stunned intelligence officials, prompting then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to call the presidentelect in defense of the agencies.
Sessions and Coats did not take questions following their remarks.
Asked whether the White House, having repeatedly expressed concerns about leaks, pushed the Justice Department to take action, Rosenstein declined to comment.