Wisconsin Reps. Tom Tiffany, Scott Fitzgerald Co-sponsor Bill to Make Leaks from SCOTUS a Federal Crime

Wisconsin Representatives Tom Tiffany (R-WI-07) and Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05) cosponsored a bill that would make leaking a Supreme Court draft a federal crime.

The legislation, introduced by Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA-04) and known as the “Leaker Accountability Act of 2022,” would mandate a potential fine or up to 5 years imprisonment, if an individual was convicted.

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Rep. John Rose Blasts ‘Radical and Unethical’ Leak of SCOTUS Draft Opinion

Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) blasted a “radical and unethical” leak from the Supreme Court, disclosing an initial draft of a potential ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson.

The leaked document, obtained by Politico, signals that a majority of justices on the Court favor overturning Roe v. Wade, a landmark ruling that detailed a constitutional right for abortions in the country.

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Pipeline Rupture Causes Massive Oil Spray Into Amazon Rainforest

A South American energy company was forced to halt operations of a pipeline traveling through the Amazon rainforest after a rupture caused a large leak of crude oil, multiple sources reported.

OCP Ecuador, which generates about $133 million in annual revenue transporting oil in the region, had immediately started a clean up and mitigation effort when the leak was discovered, the company said in a statement Saturday. The rupture was likely caused by a rock fall in the area which damaged the pipeline infrastructure, NBC News reported.

Roberto Grijalva, OCP Ecuador’s Operations Manager, said the company was committed to taking all measures necessary to prevent further damage to the environment. The Ecuadorian government, meanwhile, added that it was closely monitoring the rupture.

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Tax, Legal Experts Agree Leaker of Trump’s Tax Returns Could Face Prison Time

Tax and legal experts say the leaker or leakers who took President Trump’s personal tax returns and gave them to The New York Times, committed a felony punishable by prison.

Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who has advised Trump on some legal matters, told Just the News that the leaking was “definitely” a crime that could be liable for both criminal and civil legal actions.

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FBI Investigated Andrew McCabe for Allegedly Leaking About Michael Flynn

by Chuck Ross   The FBI investigated former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe in March 2017 for an alleged unauthorized leak to the media regarding former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and President Donald Trump, according to documents released Monday. The alleged leak, which has not previously been reported, occurred in early February 2017, shortly before Flynn was fired as national security advisor for lying about his contacts with Russia’s ambassador. According to the FBI documents, the FBI’s office of public affairs received a complaint “regarding a media leak involving a statement overheard in early February 2017.” “Specifically, the alleged comments were made by DD A. G. McCabe and pertained to General Michael T. Flynn and the POTUS,” reads the FBI document, which the bureau released as part of a trove of documents related to an internal investigation of McCabe. The investigation, which was into the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, appears to have been opened on March 20, 2017. The FBI became aware of the complaint on Feb. 21, 2017, reads the document, which was prepared by the FBI’s internal investigations section. The documents do not reveal the nature of the information that McCabe allegedly leaked or what determination the FBI made. McCabe,…

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Prosecutors: Reality Winner Faces ‘Longest’ Sentence Ever Imposed For Media Leak

Reality Winner, NSA

by Chuck Ross   Former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner’s 63-month prison sentence will be the “longest” ever served by a federal employee in a case involving leaks to the media, prosecutors said Tuesday. Winner, who worked for an NSA contractor based in Augusta, Georgia, pleaded guilty in June to transmitting secret government documents to the media in 2017. She faces sentencing August 23. Prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday that Winner’s sentence is the “longest” imposed in a media leak case. “The government advises the Court that despite the agreed-upon sentence being below the applicable guidelines range, it would be the longest sentence served by a federal defendant for an unauthorized disclosure to the media,” prosecutors said in the filing, according to The Associated Press. Winner, 26, acknowledged stealing and leaking NSA documents to The Intercept, a news website, about Russian cyber attacks against election officials throughout the U.S. Winner was arrested June 3, 2017. The Intercept published the stolen documents two days later. Winner was caught after a reporter at The Intercept contacted the NSA to verify the documents, which were visibly creased because Winner snuck them out of her office in her pantyhose. Winner, whose social media…

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NSA Contractor ‘Reality Winner’ Pleads Guilty In Leak Case

Reality Winner, NSA

by Will Racke   Former National Security Agency contractor Reality L. Winner pleaded guilty Tuesday to sending a media outlet a classified document pertaining to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. A former Air Force linguist, Winner is the first person to be prosecuted by the Trump administration for leaking sensitive government information. Her plea agreement in federal court in Augusta, Georgia, calls for a 63-month prison term, though she will be sentenced at a later date, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Winner was arrested in June 2017 after she stole classified materials from her former employer, Pluribus International, a defense contractor that works for the NSA at its offices in Augusta. After being arrested by the FBI, she admitted to printing and mailing the classified documents to investigative news website The Intercept, which went on to publish a story based on the document. The FBI announced that it had arrested Winner just hours after The Intercept published its story. In an affidavit, federal investigators said they were tipped to a leak of secret documents when an Intercept reporter seeking to authenticate the documents contacted the NSA, which then reached out to the FBI about the possible security breach. A scan of the document given…

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