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| Ex-State Dept. adviser pleads guilty in leak to Fox News | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A former State Department arms expert pleaded guilty in federal court on Friday to disclosing national defense information to a Fox News reporter. | |
| Stephen Jin-Woo Kim admitted sharing information from a top-secret intelligence report on North Korea with Fox chief Washington correspondent James Rosen. Investigators in the case also targeted Rosen, calling him a possible “co-conspirator” to obtain a search warrant for his personal e-mail. | |
| The law enforcement tactics used in Kim’s case - and in another case involving the phone records of Associated Press journalists - led the Justice Department to tighten its policies last summer for pursuing unauthorized disclosures of classified information to journalists. | The law enforcement tactics used in Kim’s case - and in another case involving the phone records of Associated Press journalists - led the Justice Department to tighten its policies last summer for pursuing unauthorized disclosures of classified information to journalists. |
| Kim’s attorneys and federal prosecutors had been engaged in lengthy courtroom battles over documents ahead of a trial that was scheduled to begin as soon as April. Kim’s defense team had argued that his alleged conversation with Rosen appeared to cause little damage to national security – and that his prosecution could end up causing more harm. | |
| The plea agreement calls for Kim to serve 13 months in prison, far less jail time than recommended under federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors have also agreed to drop a second charge of lying to federal agents. | |
| Kim, 46, decided to plead guilty, his lawyer said, because of the possibility of more than 15 years in jail and to be able to “find a path back to some normalcy.” | |
| “Stephen Kim admits that he wasn’t a whistleblower. He admits that his actions could put America at risk,” U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. said in a statement. “As this prosecution demonstrates, we will not waver in our commitment to pursuing and holding accountable government officials who blatantly disregard their obligations to protect our nation’s most highly guarded secrets.” | |
| The Obama administration has pursued more leak investigations that all previous administrations combined, charging government officials and contractors under the 1917 Espionage Act. In September, a former FBI bomb technician pleaded guilty to leaking information to the Associated Press about the disruption of a terrorist plot by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. | |
| After Kim’s hearing Friday, his attorney Abbe Lowell said the prosecution underscores problems with the nation’s system for pursuing leaks. The Espionage Act, Lowell said, was designed to punish spies, not conversations between a government employee and a reporter. | |
| “Lower-level employees like Mr. Kim are prosecuted because they are easier targets or often lack the resources or political connections to fight back,” he said. “High-level employees leak classified information to forward their agenda or to make an administration look good with impunity.” | |
| The investigation into Kim began after Rosen reported in 2009 that U.S. intelligence officials were warning that North Korea was likely to respond to a new round of United Nations sanctions with more nuclear tests. Rosen reported that the CIA warning was developed through sources inside North Korea. | The investigation into Kim began after Rosen reported in 2009 that U.S. intelligence officials were warning that North Korea was likely to respond to a new round of United Nations sanctions with more nuclear tests. Rosen reported that the CIA warning was developed through sources inside North Korea. |
| The story was published online the same day that a classified report was made available to a small circle within the intelligence community - including Kim, who at the time was a senior adviser with security clearance. | The story was published online the same day that a classified report was made available to a small circle within the intelligence community - including Kim, who at the time was a senior adviser with security clearance. |
| Standing at the lectern of the wood-paneled courtroom on Friday, Kim publicly acknowledged for the first time that he had passed on classified information to Rosen in a meeting outside of State Department headquarters,. | |
| U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly pointedly asked Kim whether he had “orally disclosed to Mr. Rosen the information” from the intelligence report. | |
| “Yes,” Kim answered. | |
| He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2. | |
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