There are leakers, and then there are leakers. Some leaking can be justified; whistleblowers to legitimately bad or evil practices by people in positions of authority is technically leaking of information, possibly even classified information, for instance.
On the other hand, on Monday, we learned that there may be some Trump-hating personnel at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are threatening to take classified intelligence information to foreign governments if their positions are threatened by the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency — the DOGE.
There is a word for that. It’s not a pretty one.
In an effort to comply with an executive order to downsize the federal workforce, the CIA earlier this month sent the White House an extraordinarily unusual email listing all new hires that have been with the agency for two years or less — a list that included CIA officers who were preparing to operate under cover — over an unclassified email server.
Wait, didn’t we have a certain former Secretary of State who kept classified material on an unclassified and unsecured email server? What was her name again?
The agency is now considering whether some of the employees listed in the email to the White House who were previously slated for covert deployments in sensitive locations overseas should now be held back or reassigned, sources familiar with the matter said, because the risk that their identity may have been exposed to foreign government hackers is too high.
That, to be fair, is a legitimate concern. There is a chance that leaked information could result in the death of an operator; I have an old friend who was a CIA Foreign Intelligence Officer (FIA) for 30 years, and I remember him saying that one of these people’s great fears was being “burned.” That was something that could easily end in a prolonged and painful death.
Here’s the alarming part:
With the CIA and other intelligence agencies, “you take whatever number of employees who are gonna get cut loose and they have knowledge of sensitive programs — that by definition is an insider risk,” this person said. “You’re just rolling the dice that these folks are gonna honor their secrecy agreement and not volunteer to a hostile intelligence service.”
This shouldn’t be a question. These people took oaths. They have — or had — security clearances, with the extensive background checks that go with those. I know — I’ve undergone a background check for a top-secret clearance myself. And, depending on which foreign government these disgruntled ex-employees might choose to go to, this act would be, arguably, treason.
Hellbound and Down 