美国国家公共电台 NPR Once Reserved For Spies, Espionage Act Now Used Against Suspected Leakers

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

One hundred years ago this month, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Espionage¹ Act to deal with spying against the U.S. during World War I. Historically, prosecutions² have been rare, but the law made a vigorous comeback recently with the Obama administration and now the Trump³ administration using it to prosecute⁴ suspected national security leakers. Here's NPR's Greg Myre.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁵: Some of the most notorious spy cases have been tried under the Espionage Act, like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted in 1951 of giving nuclear secrets to the Soviet⁶ Union.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Four times today, atom spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg appealed their sentence of death, and four times they were unsuccessful. They will be executed tonight, probably within the next half-hour, the first husband and wife to die in the electric chair.

MYRE: As national security lawyer Mark Zaid explains, the act is sweeping⁷, barring any disclosure of secrets that could harm the country's defense⁸.

MARK ZAID: It applies to what would be the conventional spies who are spying for an enemy, but it also includes individuals who leak classified information.

MYRE: Individuals like Chelsea Manning, the former Army private, and Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor⁹. They're among eight people charged or convicted of leaking national security secrets under the Espionage Act by the Obama administration. That's more such cases than all its predecessors¹⁰ combined.

Now the Trump administration is pursuing its own case. Reality Winner is a 25-year-old contractor. She's accused of divulging¹¹ a national security agency document that details Russian meddling¹² in the U.S. election. Zaid says we've entered a new era with encryption apps, thumb drives and other technology that can spread classified information in a click. But he adds...

ZAID: Even though it's easier now to grab these documents, it is a lot easier for the government to track the documents.

MYRE: Winner has pleaded not guilty, though the FBI says she left a trail of bread crumbs¹³. The Bureau says the NSA document was printed at her office. An anonymous¹⁴ letter was postmarked in Augusta, Ga., where she lives. She reportedly had email contact with The Intercept¹⁵, the outlet¹⁶ that published the document.

She was arrested June 3 just two days after the FBI was alerted to the leak. Like Snowden and Manning, she's a young, junior-level figure who had access to highly classified material.

ZAID: When I first started representing individuals suspected of leaking classified information back in the mid-'90s, the government was never able to catch any of these people. They would have loved to have prosecuted¹⁷ them. They couldn't. The evidence was lacking.

MYRE: The Espionage Act never envisioned modern communications, and critics call it antiquated¹⁸. It was last amended¹⁹ more than a half century ago. Stephen Kohn, the author of "The New Whistleblower's Handbook," says government workers can petition to legally disclose information, including classified information, in many ways. His book offers 30 rules. Employees can formally appeal to their own agency. They can go to an inspector²⁰ general or a federal court or head to that very reliable source of leaks, Congress.

STEPHEN KOHN: All of a sudden, what might be just four or five people knowing something could be 200 people knowing something. And some of those entities²¹ leak on their own. I'm just saying this is how to protect yourself.

MYRE: As an attorney, Kohn counsels against unlawful leaks and says being tech-savvy doesn't make someone safe.

KOHN: You just got to go low-tech. So when I say beware of an electronic footprint, beware of your electronic footprint.

MYRE: Kohn looks back to Watergate and the way Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein handled their key source, FBI official Mark Felt, aka Deep Throat.

KOHN: You know, ultimately it's funny - the way that Deep Throat communicated in the Nixon era, you know, in a (laughter) - in the parking lot orally. It was pretty smart.

MYRE: Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 espionage   

n.间谍行为，谍报活动

参考例句：

• The authorities have arrested several people suspected of espionage.官方已经逮捕了几个涉嫌从事间谍活动的人。
• Neither was there any hint of espionage in Hanley's early life.汉利的早期生活也毫无进行间谍活动的迹象。

2 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

3 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

4 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 contractor   

n.订约人，承包人，收缩肌

参考例句：

• The Tokyo contractor was asked to kick $ 6000 back as commission.那个东京的承包商被要求退还6000美元作为佣金。
• The style of house the contractor builds depends partly on the lay of the land.承包商所建房屋的式样，有几分要看地势而定。

10 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 divulging   

v.吐露，泄露( divulge的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The soldier was shot for divulging the plans to the enemy. 这个士兵因向敌人泄密被击毙。 来自互联网
• Gives itself a small seat. Divulging heartily. 给自己一个小位子。尽情的宣泄。 来自互联网

12 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

13 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

14 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

15 intercept   

vt.拦截，截住，截击

参考例句：

• His letter was intercepted by the Secret Service.他的信被特工处截获了。
• Gunmen intercepted him on his way to the airport.持枪歹徒在他去机场的路上截击了他。

16 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

17 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

18 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

19 Amended   

adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He asked to see the amended version. 他要求看修订本。
• He amended his speech by making some additions and deletions. 他对讲稿作了些增删修改。

20 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

21 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。