Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information . . . concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States . . . shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
Right. Comint status and also RICO can apply. "Young scholar" is throwing up a little fog today. Don't assume the NYTimes and WaPo lack allies.
We could spend a lot of time trying to figure out what motivates treason and/or national suicide, but it is better time spent just beating them and their cause.
>>The NYT may be prosecuted under 18 USC 798 - the "Comint" statute.
Whoever knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified information . . . concerning the communication intelligence activities of the United States . . . shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.<<
As a practical matter, it is very difficult to prosecute for a leak if the leaker is a whistle blower. Whatever you think of the program, revealing appears to fall into the whistle blower category.