Media News - Thursday, June 28, 2012

U.S. war on information leaks continues with new rules implementing polygraph tests

Outcry over leaked national security information published in The New York Times and other news media outlets has prompted U.S. national intelligence to implement new rules aimed at curbing - and punishing - information leaks, the NY Times reported. The new rules, announced Monday, June 25, call for lie detector tests to question officials about whether they revealed secret information to journalists, and allow the newly established inspector general for the intelligence community to investigate leaks, even if the Justice Department, which normally conducts such investigations, decides not to bring criminal charges, explained the Los Angeles Times and the WallStreet Journal. "The leaking of classified national security information is intolerable at any level, but the parade of recent leaks requires action. We must break this culture of unauthorized disclosures," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, a Republican, as quoted by Yahoo News. The Obama administration has a track record of aggressively going after anyone who leaks information to the press. During Obama's three-and-a-half years as president, six whistleblowers have been charged under the Espionage Act for leaking classified information -- that's more people prosecuted than under all previous administrations combined. (Knight Center)

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