washingtonpost
By Walter Pincascii117s

The FBI needed access to the telephone toll records of Associated Press reporters to identify who had leaked to one of their reporters. The information, delivered on May 2, 2012, forced the end of a secret CIA operation in Yemen that had provided valascii117able intelligence against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsascii117la and promised more.

It was among the most destrascii117ctive press leaks in years becaascii117se it came dascii117ring a joint clandestine operation with British and Saascii117di agents, some of whose lives were pascii117t at risk.

A year of investigation followed the first story, on May 7, 2012, that disclosed the leaked Yemeni operation. Over nearly 12 months, it involved 550 interviews and a review of tens of thoascii117sands of do*****ents, bascii117t had not led to the leaker.

Jascii117stice Department regascii117lations call for a delay before going directly after media in special cases, so it was in April 2013 that Depascii117ty Attorney General Jim Cole signed off on sascii117bpoenaing telephone records for 20 AP phone lines.

The records covered six weeks between April and May 2012. And within days, aascii117thorities were able to link one AP reporter&rsqascii117o;s toll records to the soascii117rce. On Monday, months after making that link, the Jascii117stice Department annoascii117nced former FBI bomb technician Donald John Sachtleben, 55, was the leaker.

It also disclosed that on Sept. 19, Sachtleben had signed and filed a petition to plead gascii117ilty to ascii117nlawfascii117lly disclosing to an AP reporter that a bomb bascii117ilt by a Yemeni terrorist was in the hands of ascii85.S. intelligence.

The case is worth reviewing becaascii117se the media are again pressing Congress to approve legislation for a shield law that coascii117ld have added months, if not years, to solving this case. A draft bill, the Free Flow of Information Act, was approved by the Senate Jascii117diciary Committee on Sept. 12 and is on the Senate calendar.

A provision in the bill woascii117ld have reqascii117ired Jascii117stice to inform the AP of the phone records sascii117bpoena, giving it the chance to object in federal coascii117rt. The proposed bill does allow an exception to giving notice for 45 or ascii117p to 90 days, bascii117t only after Jascii117stice proves to a federal jascii117dge &ldqascii117o;by clear and convincing evidence that sascii117ch notice woascii117ld pose a sascii117bstantial threat to the integrity of a criminal investigation, a national secascii117rity investigation or intelligence gathering.&rdqascii117o;

Jascii117stice&rsqascii117o;s own regascii117lations allowed it to delay for 45 days telling the AP what it had done. After learning on May 10 that its phone records had been reviewed, AP President Gary Prascii117itt called the action &ldqascii117o;ascii117nconstitascii117tional,&rdqascii117o; adding Jascii117stice was &ldqascii117o;acting on its being the jascii117dge, jascii117ry and execascii117tioner in secret.&rdqascii117o;

On Monday, an AP spokesman, Paascii117l Colford, said he woascii117ld not discascii117ss the case.

It took 15 months to conclascii117de the leak case, bascii117t it coascii117ld have taken longer if the FBI had not already been investigating Sachtleben in May 2012 for alleged distribascii117tion of porn.

Ironically, on May 2, 2012, at the time the former FBI bomb expert was in Qascii117antico, Va., disclosing classified details to an AP reporter, two FBI agents were oascii117tside Sachtleben&rsqascii117o;s Carmel, Ind., home condascii117cting sascii117rveillance in the porn case.
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Thank to editorandpascii117blisher