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FBI Linguist Gets 20 Months for Leaking to Blogger

Sentence underscores Obama's hard line

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted May 26, 2010 4:05 AM CDT

(Newser) – A former FBI linguist who leaked to a blogger information so top secret that even the sentencing judge wasn't allowed to know what it was has been sentenced to 20 months in prison. "I don't know what was divulged, other than some documents, and I don't know how it has compromised things," the judge said before sentencing Hebrew scholar Shamai Leibowitz. The linguist, who pleaded guilty to divulging classified information, said he believed the information he leaked exposed a violation of the law, the Washington Post reports.

Leibowitz has become only the third US government employee ever to be convicted for spilling classified information to the media. Analysts say the conviction highlights the surprisingly hard line the Obama administration has taken against leakers. "They're going after this at every opportunity and with unmatched vigor," a spokesman for the Federation of American Scientists tells Politico.

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The Justice Department is pursuing leakers of information with a zeal that has surprised many analysts. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, file)

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We are in a new world. At least when you have a leak to the mainstream media, you know there’s a little judgment and training there.
- Lucy Dalglish of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

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FBI Linguist Gets 20 Months for Leaking to Blogger

Sentence underscores Obama's hard line

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More Newser Stories

More Than 4.2M People Have Security Clearance

That's almost double previous estimates

Is Monroe Sex Tape a Hoax?

FBI finds no evidence of reel that dealer says he sold for $1.5M

Secret Monroe Porn Fetches $1.5M

FBI once thought it tied to JFK

Feds Probe Founder of 'Revenge Porn' Website

Hunter Moore boasted he 'ruined lives'

Drone Strike Kills al-Qaeda Leader in Yemen

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