CIA Agent Fired For Leaking Classified Information

CNN reports the CIA has fired one of its officers for leaking classified information:

The officer admitted to "unauthorized discussions with the media in which the officer knowingly and willfully shared classified intelligence including operational information," said spokeswoman Michelle Neff.

[. . .]

A U.S. official said the person's name has been turned over to the Justice Department, where a determination will be made on whether to file criminal charges.

All CIA employees are required to sign a secrecy agreement upon being hired stating they are prohibited from discussing classified information with anyone not cleared to receive the material.

NBC News reported the leaked information pertained to stories on the CIA’s rumored secret prisons in Eastern Europe and was allegedly provided to Dana Priest of the Washington Post, who wrote about the CIA prisons in November. The story earned Dana Priest a Pulitzer Prize.

According to NBC, the CIA believes the fired officer had more than a dozen unauthorized contacts with Priest.

Priest's report caused an international uproar, and government officials have said it did significant damage to relationships between the U.S. and allied intelligence agencies. Last December the impact of Priest's article was so damaging that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had to tell our European allies that the United State does not violate allies' sovereignty or break international law, and Rice reminded the Europeans that their governments are cooperating in a fight against terrorists who have bombed commuters in Madrid and London.

I hope the justice Department throws the book at the leaker. The Stakes are too high in the War Against Terror for such damaging misconduct not to be severely punished.