Sessions: Leak probes triple under Trump

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Friday that the Justice Department was pursuing three times as many leak investigations as were open at the end of the previous administration, a significant devotion of law enforcement resources to hunt down the sources of unauthorized disclosures of information that have plagued the Trump administration.

Sessions vowed that the Justice Department would not hesitate to bring criminal charges against people who had leaked classified information. He also announced that the FBI had created a new counterintelligence unit to manage the cases.

“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,” he said.

The announcement by Sessions comes 10 days after President Donald Trump publicly accused his attorney general of being “very” weak on pursuing leak investigations.

Sessions also said he had opened a review of Justice Department rules governing when investigators may issue subpoenas related to the news media and leak investigations.

“We respect the important role that the press plays and will give them respect, but it is not unlimited,” he said. “They cannot place lives at risk with impunity.”

The news conference came against the backdrop of repeated pressure by Trump, in public and in private, for the Justice Department and the FBI to search for people inside the government who have been telling reporters what was happening behind closed doors. The Justice Department declined to disclose specific figures for the number of open investigations it is now pursuing.

President Barack Obama’s administration oversaw a crackdown on people who talked to reporters about government secrets without authorization, bringing more leak-related criminal cases than all previous presidents combined. But Trump has suggested an even harder line.

In February, Trump told then-FBI Director James Comey that the bureau should consider prosecuting reporters for publishing classified information, according to one of Comey’s associates.

Sessions on Friday did not respond to a question about whether such a step, which would raise First Amendment issues, was under consideration.