Going after leaks
The week's news at a glance.
Washington, D.C.
The Bush administration has launched an all-out assault against leaks of classified information, The Washington Post reported this week. The effort includes a warning, filed by the Justice Department in a recent case, that journalists who receive confidential defense information can be prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act, a law originally aimed at wartime spies. In the past month, the FBI has interviewed dozens of government employees in an effort to trace the sources for articles about the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program and about secret CIA prisons. Agents have also interviewed journalists at The Sacramento Bee about stories based on sealed documents in a California terror case. “Reporters who look too hard into the public’s business risk being branded traitors,” said Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'"Andor" examines all sides of how empires operate'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
DHS chief Kristi Noem's purse stolen from eatery
Speed Read Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's purse was stolen while she dined with family at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant money
Speed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
By Peter Weber, The Week US