This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. The recent online publication of classified defense documents by the Wikileaks and subsequent reporting by the N.Y. Times and other news media have focused attention on whether such publication violates U.S. criminal law. Some criminal statutes may apply, but these have been used almost exclusively to prosecute individuals with access to classified info. who make it available to foreign agents, or to foreign agents who obtain classified info. unlawfully while present in the U.S. This report discusses the statutory prohibitions that may be implicated, including the Espionage Act; the extraterritorial application of such statutes; and the First Amend. implications related to such prosecutions against domestic or foreign media org. and assoc. individuals.

Press reports describing classified U.S. operations abroad have led to calls from Congress for an investigation into the source of the leaks, and Attorney General Holder appointed two special prosecutors to look into the matter. The online publication of classified defense documents and diplomatic cables by the organization WikiLeaks and subsequent reporting by the New York Times and other news media had already focused attention on whether such publication violates U.S. criminal law. The suspected source of the WikiLeaks material, Army Private Bradley Manning, has been charged with a number of offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), including aiding the enemy, while a grand jury in Virginia is deciding whether to indict any civilians in connection with the disclosure. A number of other cases involving charges under the Espionage Act demonstrate the Obama Administration's relatively hardline policy with respect to the prosecution of persons suspected of leaking classified information to the media.

A criminal prosecution involving CI may cause tension between the government¿s interest in protecting CI and the criminal defendant¿s right to a constitutionally valid trial. In some cases, a defendant may threaten to disclose CI in an effort to gain leverage. Concerns about this practice, referred to as ¿graymail,¿ led Congress to enact the Classified Info. Procedures Act (CIPA) to provide uniform procedures for prosecutions involving CI. Contents of this report: Background; The CIPA: Pretrial Conferences, Required Notice, and Appeals; Protective Orders and Security Clearances; Discovery: Brady and Jencks Material; Depositions; Admissibility of CI: Substitutions; Confrontation Clause and the Silent Witness Rule. A print on demand report.