Did the Associated Press blow an Al Qaeda informant's cover?
How bad was the Justice Department鈥檚 going after the phone records of Associated Press writers and editors?
Very bad, according to most journalism professionals worried about sources 鈥� especially whistleblowers 鈥� refusing to talk for fear of Big Government retribution.
鈥�First Amendment radicals 鈥� I count myself among them 鈥� resist any and all such intrusions,鈥� writes Reuters columnist Jack Shafer. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 very well have a free press if every unpublished act of journalism can be co-opted by cops, prosecutors and defense attorneys.鈥�
But it鈥檚 still unclear how serious the leak was that led to the AP鈥檚 scoop about a foiled terrorist plot in Yemen and then to the sweeping search for the leaker. Did it in fact 鈥減ut people at risk,鈥� as President Obama suggested this week?
Duke University Law School professor Christopher H. Schroeder, who was Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Policy in the Obama administration from 2010 to 2012, obviously is not a disinterested source.
But he makes a good point about why the Justice Department went to such lengths to find the source of the leak regarding a story involving what could have been a successful underwear bomber tied to Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula targeting a US airliner.
鈥淲hat went completely without mention in the initial coverage was the fact that thwarting this plot was not the objective of the ongoing undercover operation,鈥� Mr. Schroeder wrote on Huffington Post this week. 鈥淚ts true objective was to gain enough intelligence to locate and neutralize the master bomb builder, Ibrahim Hassan al-Ashiri, who works with an Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).鈥�
鈥淧enetrating AQAP is incredibly difficult,鈥� Schroeder continued. 鈥淭his double agent provided a rare opportunity to gain critical, life-saving information. Whoever disclosed the information obtained by the AP had not only put the agent's life and his family's life in danger. He also killed a golden opportunity to save untold more lives that now remain at risk due to al-Ashiri remaining at large.鈥�
Ken Dilanian of the Los Angeles Times reports on the widespread dismay the leak caused intelligence agencies working with the CIA around the world.
鈥淭he informant, reportedly a British subject of Saudi birth 鈥� was trained and outfitted with the latest version of an underwear bomb designed to pass metal detectors and other airport safeguards,鈥� officials told Mr. Dilanian.
鈥淓ven after the informant left Yemen with the explosive device and turned it over to his handlers, U.S. intelligence officials believed they could use him to help disrupt and destroy the terrorist network,鈥� Dilanian writes. 鈥淏ritish intelligence officials, who played a key role in the secret operation, were furious, a British diplomat said. Saudi intelligence officials also were dismayed, U.S. officials said.鈥�
Politically, going after journalistic sources as aggressively as the Obama administration has is seen as yet another 鈥渟candal鈥� these days. But not everyone agrees.
鈥淰eteran prosecutors have a far more measured response: It鈥檚 complicated,鈥� writes Politico鈥檚 James Hohmann.
鈥淭hese lawyers recognize the threats to a free press but say the dangers of national security leaks 鈥� and the difficulties in finding the leakers 鈥� sometimes force the government鈥檚 hand,鈥� Hohmann writes. 鈥淭he actions of the Obama administration were unusual and deserve careful scrutiny, they say, but do not automatically equal a clear-cut abuse of power.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a scandal,鈥� John Dean, Richard Nixon鈥檚 White House counsel who served jail time for his role in the Watergate cover-up, told Hohmann. 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly not Nixonian.鈥�
It may not be Nixonian as Washington scandals go, but it spotlights the administration鈥檚 attitude toward leakers that鈥檚 gotten more criticism than praise.
鈥淏ut the man who U.S. officials believe designed and built the underwear bombs, Ibrahim Nasiri, remains at large,鈥� observes Ken Dilanian of the LA Times. 鈥淔inding him would have been a top goal of the operation with the informant.鈥�
