{ "title": "Search: secrets and espionage laws in the United States", "canonical_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?country=US&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&view=cards", "filters": { "country": "US", "tactic": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "view": "cards" }, "sort": "date", "count": 11, "page": 1, "pages": 1, "per_page": 50, "counts_caveat": "The number of entries reflects the depth of this record, not the severity of a country's conduct.", "facets": { "country": [ { "value": "US", "label": "United States", "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" } } ], "continent": [ { "value": "north-america", "label": "North America" } ], "tactic": [ { "value": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "label": "Secrets and espionage laws", "count": 11 }, { "value": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "label": "Surveillance and subpoenas", "count": 4 }, { "value": "prior_restraint", "label": "Prior restraint", "count": 2 }, { "value": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "label": "Shutdowns and blocking", "count": 2 }, { "value": "detention_and_violence", "label": "Detention and violence", "count": 1 } ], "stage": [ { "value": "pressure", "label": "Pressure", "count": 1 }, { "value": "punish", "label": "Punish", "count": 7 }, { "value": "silence", "label": "Silence", "count": 3 } ], "level": [ { "value": "national", "label": "National", "count": 11 } ], "outcome": [ { "value": "reversed", "label": "Reversed", "count": 4 }, { "value": "upheld", "label": "Upheld by a court", "count": 4 }, { "value": "sustained", "label": "Sustained", "count": 2 }, { "value": "unknown", "label": "Unknown", "count": 1 } ], "leader": [ { "value": "barack-obama", "label": "Barack Obama" }, { "value": "donald-trump", "label": "Donald Trump" }, { "value": "franklin-d-roosevelt", "label": "Franklin D. Roosevelt" }, { "value": "george-w-bush", "label": "George W. Bush" }, { "value": "richard-nixon", "label": "Richard Nixon" }, { "value": "woodrow-wilson", "label": "Woodrow Wilson" } ], "era": [ { "value": "2010s", "label": "2010s", "count": 6 }, { "value": "1910s", "label": "1910s", "count": 2 }, { "value": "2000s", "label": "2000s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1970s", "label": "1970s", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1940s", "label": "1940s", "count": 1 } ], "year": [ { "value": "1917", "label": "1917", "count": 2 }, { "value": "1941", "label": "1941", "count": 1 }, { "value": "1971", "label": "1971", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2005", "label": "2005", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2010", "label": "2010", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2013", "label": "2013", "count": 3 }, { "value": "2014", "label": "2014", "count": 1 }, { "value": "2019", "label": "2019", "count": 1 } ], "has_case": [ { "value": "0", "label": "without a court case", "count": 11 } ] }, "results": [ { "slug": "2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment", "title": "United States indicts WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act", "occurred_on": "2019-05-23", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "donald-trump", "leader_name": "Donald Trump", "issue_of_the_day": "WikiLeaks' 2010 publication of leaked United States military reports and diplomatic cables supplied by Chelsea Manning.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2024-06-25", "outcome_note": "Assange spent five years in a British prison fighting extradition before a June 2024 plea deal: he pleaded guilty to one count, was sentenced to time served, and was released.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The United States indicted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on 17 counts under the Espionage Act over the 2010 publication of leaked military and diplomatic files, charges press-freedom groups said could expose ordinary national-security journalism to prosecution.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2019-us-assange-espionage-act-indictment" }, { "slug": "2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling", "title": "United States pursues New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony for years before dropping its demand for his source", "occurred_on": "2014-10-17", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2006 book account of a botched CIA operation meant to disrupt Iran's nuclear weapons program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2014-10-17", "outcome_note": "After the Supreme Court declined to hear Risen's appeal, the Justice Department chose not to compel his testimony or the identity of his source; Sterling was convicted without it.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "For years, federal prosecutors sought New York Times reporter James Risen's testimony identifying a confidential source in a CIA leak case; the Supreme Court declined to hear his appeal, but Attorney General Eric Holder ultimately chose not to force him to testify or name the source.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2014-us-james-risen-subpoena-jeffrey-sterling" }, { "slug": "2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act", "title": "United States: Espionage Act prosecutions of sources for leaks to the press, 2009 to 2013", "occurred_on": "2013-10-10", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": null, "outcome": "unknown", "outcome_on": null, "outcome_note": "The record documents the prosecutions as a group; the outcome of each case is not recorded here.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "in_effect", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a non-profit organization in New York that documents cases of journalists imprisoned or killed worldwide, published on October 10, 2013, found that since 2009 the United States Department of Justice had brought felony charges against six government employees and two contractors, including Edward Snowden, accused of leaking classified information to the press. The charges were brought under the Espionage Act, a 1917 United States law against disclosing defence information, during the presidency of Barack Obama. The Project On Government Oversight, a United States non-profit that investigates the federal government, said the department under Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder \"has used it more than all prior administrations combined.\"", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-obama-doj-charges-eight-under-espionage-act" }, { "slug": "2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator", "title": "United States search warrant names Fox News reporter James Rosen a possible co-conspirator in a leak case", "occurred_on": "2013-05-20", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "A 2009 Fox News report, sourced to a State Department analyst, forecasting North Korea's response to new United Nations sanctions.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "2013-07-12", "outcome_note": "The warrant was not withdrawn from the record; Kim pleaded guilty in 2014 and Rosen was never charged. Holder's July 2013 guidelines later restricted subpoenas naming reporters as suspects.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A 2010 FBI search-warrant affidavit, unsealed in 2013, described Fox News reporter James Rosen as a possible co-conspirator in violating the Espionage Act because he sought classified information from a State Department analyst, and used that theory to obtain his private emails.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2013-us-doj-names-fox-reporter-co-conspirator" }, { "slug": "2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source", "title": "United States prosecutes former CIA officer John Kiriakou under the Espionage Act for identifying a covert colleague to a journalist", "occurred_on": "2013-01-25", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "Public disclosure of the CIA's post-September 11 interrogation program, including its use of waterboarding.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2015-02-03", "outcome_note": "Kiriakou served his full 30-month sentence under the plea agreement and was released in February 2015; no CIA interrogation-program official faced comparable charges.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who in 2007 was the first CIA officer to publicly describe the agency's waterboarding of a detainee, pleaded guilty to identifying a covert colleague to a journalist and was sentenced under the Espionage Act to 30 months in prison.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2012-us-john-kiriakou-espionage-act-cia-torture-source" }, { "slug": "2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks", "title": "United States charges Army analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act for leaking to WikiLeaks", "occurred_on": "2010-07-05", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "detention_and_violence", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "barack-obama", "leader_name": "Barack Obama", "issue_of_the_day": "United States conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and detainee treatment, including the CIA's interrogation program.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "2017-01-17", "outcome_note": "Manning's convictions were not overturned, but President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence in January 2017 and she was released that May.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2010s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "The U.S. Army charged intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning under the Espionage Act, a 1917 law against disclosing defense information, after she gave WikiLeaks, a website that publishes leaked documents, a large archive of military and diplomatic files that news organizations later published.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2010-us-chelsea-manning-espionage-act-wikileaks" }, { "slug": "2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source", "title": "New York Times reporter Judith Miller jailed for refusing to name a confidential source in the Valerie Plame affair", "occurred_on": "2005-07-06", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "surveillance_and_subpoenas", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "surveillance_and_subpoenas" ], "leader_slug": "george-w-bush", "leader_name": "George W. Bush", "issue_of_the_day": "The Bush administration's case for the 2003 Iraq War and the public dispute over former ambassador Joseph Wilson's contrary account of Iraqi uranium claims.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "2005-09-29", "outcome_note": "Courts upheld the contempt order and subpoena; Miller served 85 days before her source freed her to testify, and prosecutors later convicted Libby of perjury.", "stage": "punish", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "2000s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "A federal judge jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller for contempt after she refused to tell a grand jury who told her the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame, part of a special counsel's investigation into the leak.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2005-us-judith-miller-jailed-plame-source" }, { "slug": "1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction", "title": "United States government seeks an injunction to stop The New York Times publishing the Pentagon Papers", "occurred_on": "1971-06-15", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "richard-nixon", "leader_name": "Richard Nixon", "issue_of_the_day": "The Pentagon Papers documented decades of internal government decision-making on the Vietnam War that contradicted public statements by several administrations, and the Nixon administration sought to prevent further disclosure of the classified history.", "outcome": "reversed", "outcome_on": "1971-06-30", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court ruled 6 to 3 that the government's request for an injunction against publication failed to overcome the heavy presumption against prior restraint.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1970s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "After The New York Times began publishing a leaked secret history of the Vietnam War, the Nixon administration obtained a court order stopping further publication, the first such order against a major American newspaper. The Supreme Court lifted it two weeks later, ruling the government had not justified blocking publication in advance.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1971-us-pentagon-papers-injunction" }, { "slug": "1941-us-office-of-censorship-wartime-press-code", "title": "United States creates an Office of Censorship and a wartime code for the press", "occurred_on": "1941-12-19", "occurred_on_precision": "day", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "prior_restraint", "tactics": [ "prior_restraint", "secrets_and_espionage_laws" ], "leader_slug": "franklin-d-roosevelt", "leader_name": "Franklin D. Roosevelt", "issue_of_the_day": "The United States had just entered the Second World War after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the government wanted to prevent newspapers and broadcasters from unintentionally publishing information useful to enemy forces.", "outcome": "sustained", "outcome_on": "1945-09-28", "outcome_note": "The Office of Censorship operated on the press's voluntary compliance through the war and was abolished by executive order after Japan's surrender.", "stage": "pressure", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1940s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Twelve days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Office of Censorship. Its director, Byron Price, a former Associated Press editor, wrote a Code of Wartime Practices asking newspapers and broadcasters to withhold information such as troop movements, and most of the press followed it voluntarily.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1941-us-office-of-censorship-wartime-press-code" }, { "slug": "1917-us-espionage-act-bars-the-masses-from-the-mail", "title": "United States postmaster bars the magazine The Masses from the mail under the Espionage Act", "occurred_on": "1917-07-01", "occurred_on_precision": "month", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The United States had entered the First World War three months earlier and introduced a military draft. The Masses had run cartoons and articles opposing the war and conscription, which the Post Office treated as material likely to obstruct recruiting.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1917-11-01", "outcome_note": "The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed Judge Hand's order later in 1917, and the Post Office's mail ban on The Masses stood.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1910s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Weeks after the United States entered the First World War, the New York postmaster used the new Espionage Act, a law against interfering with military recruitment, to bar the socialist magazine The Masses from the mail. A judge's order protecting the magazine was reversed on appeal.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-espionage-act-bars-the-masses-from-the-mail" }, { "slug": "1917-us-burleson-mail-ban-milwaukee-leader", "title": "United States Postmaster General Burleson strips the Milwaukee Leader of its mailing rate", "occurred_on": "1917-01-01", "occurred_on_precision": "year", "country": "US", "country_name": "United States", "continent": "north-america", "jurisdiction": "US", "level": "national", "tactic_primary": "shutdowns_and_blocking", "tactics": [ "secrets_and_espionage_laws", "shutdowns_and_blocking" ], "leader_slug": "woodrow-wilson", "leader_name": "Woodrow Wilson", "issue_of_the_day": "The Leader had published articles criticizing United States participation in the First World War and the draft, which the Post Office treated as violations of the Espionage Act's ban on obstructing military recruitment.", "outcome": "upheld", "outcome_on": "1921-03-07", "outcome_note": "The Supreme Court upheld the revocation of the Leader's mailing rate 7 to 2 in United States ex rel. Milwaukee Social Democratic Publishing Co. v. Burleson.", "stage": "silence", "ladder_note": null, "rsf": { "index": "RSF World Press Freedom Index", "year": 2026, "rank": 64, "of": 180, "label": "RSF 2026 rank: 64th of 180", "source_url": "https://rsf.org/en/index" }, "era": "1910s", "granularity": "anchor", "status": "historical", "case_count": 0, "summary": "Postmaster General Albert Burleson used the wartime Espionage Act to strip the Milwaukee Leader, a socialist daily, of its low-cost second-class mailing rate, cutting off its main channel to readers. The Supreme Court upheld the revocation in 1921, over two dissents warning it amounted to press controls.", "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/1917-us-burleson-mail-ban-milwaukee-leader" } ], "other_results": [], "downloads": { "csv": "https://thewaronnews.com/search?country=US&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&view=cards&format=csv", "json": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.json?country=US&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&view=cards", "md": "https://thewaronnews.com/search.md?country=US&tactic=secrets_and_espionage_laws&view=cards" }, "license": { "name": "CC BY 4.0", "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" } }