Thursday, February 13, 2025
Elder of Ziyon
A former CIA analyst pleaded guilty today to retaining and transmitting Top Secret National Defense Information to people who were not entitled to receive it, information which was publicly posted on a social media platform in October 2024.According to court documents, Asif William Rahman, 34, of Vienna, was an employee of the CIA since 2016 and had a Top-Secret security clearance with access to Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI).Rahman pleaded guilty to two counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to the national defense. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 15, 2025. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for both counts in the plea agreement.
Israel is likely to attempt a strike on Iran’s nuclear program in the coming months in a preemptive attack that would set back Tehran’s program by weeks or perhaps months but escalate tensions across the Middle East and renew the prospect of a wider regional conflagration, according to U.S. intelligence.The warnings about a potential Israeli strike are included in multiple intelligence reports spanning the end of the Biden administration and the beginning of the Trump administration, none more comprehensive than an early January report produced by the intelligence directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Defense Intelligence Agency.The report warned that Israel is likely to attempt a strike on Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities in the first six months of 2025. Current and former U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence told The Washington Post that the finding derives from an analysis of Israel’s planning following its bombing of Iran in late October, which degraded its air defenses and left Tehran exposed to a follow-on assault. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss highly classified intelligence.
How are these two leaks different? How is leaking information about specific Israeli attack plans against Iran to social media any different than leaking it to mainstream media?
In general, newspapers are protected from prosecution for publishing leaked information. But the leakers themselves should be equally liable in both cases.
Also, this Washington Post story came on the heels of the Wall Street Journal publishing a much milder story with no specifics, so it is possible that the WaPo asked their sources in the intelligence community to share information beyond the WSJ story, which could in theory make them complicit in actively soliciting classified information or conspiring with people to steal or improperly disclose top secret information. It seems unlikely that the "officials" voluntarily contacted the WaPo only hours after the WSJ article, almost certainly the WaPo reporters contacted their sources, which sounds like active solicitation of classified information to me.
The mention of "former US officials" also strongly indicates that the leakers had been loyal Biden Administration intelligence analysts who want to stymie any Israeli attacks.
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