Obama's war against media sources took another turn as another leaker was indicted under the Espionage Act, even though no espionage on behalf of a foreign power occurred.
Steve Aftergood of Secrecy News gives this heads-up:
The Obama Administration continued its pursuit of individuals who leak classified information to the press with another indictment of a suspected leaker. The Department of Justice announced last week that Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department contractor, had been indicted under the Espionage Act for the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and for lying to the FBI. Mr. Kim pleaded not guilty to both charges.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/kim/indict.pdf
More at http://www.fas.org/
This crackdown on unofficial sources accords well with Obama's pattern of activity with respect to the press. He dodges direct question from reporters as a matter of policy, avoiding press conferences other than those in which he gives a campaign-style speech and perhapas an aide answers questions.
Everyone recalls how he tried to marginalize Fox News after Glenn Beck exposed radical, and even communist, goings on at the White House level.
Obama, despite all the glad-handing and smiles, seems to have quite an authoritarian streak. His Justice Dept. has the law on its side. But the press has history on its side. Leaks have always been a standard element of democracy.
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