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Ex-FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Leaking Secrets to Reporter

by Reuters

   WASHINGTON --

   A former FBI agent accused of leaking government secrets to a reporter
   pleaded guilty Tuesday to two criminal counts related to retaining and
   disclosing defense information, the Justice Department said.

   Terry Albury, 39, a former special agent in the FBI's Minneapolis field
   office, could face up to 10 years in prison for each of the two counts
   against him, the Justice Department said in a statement.

   "As this prosecution demonstrates, we will not waiver in our commitment
   to pursue and hold accountable government officials who violate their
   obligations to protect our nation's secrets," Assistant Attorney
   General John Demers said in a statement.

   Albury's attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment.

   'FBI secret rules'

   At the time Albury was charged in March, his attorneys said his actions
   were "driven by a conscientious commitment to long-term national
   security and addressing the well-documented systemic biases within the
   FBI."

   A source familiar with the case has told Reuters that the online news
   organization The Intercept was the recipient of the information Albury
   was charged with leaking.

   The Intercept could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

   In January 2017, The Intercept published a series titled "The FBI's
   Secret Rules" based on Albury's leaked documents, which showed the
   depth and broad powers of the FBI expansion since the Sept. 11, 2001,
   attacks and its recruitment efforts, Minnesota Public Radio reported.

   The Intercept reported the initial charges against Albury and published
   a statement from its editor-in-chief, Betsy Reed, saying the news
   outlet did not discuss anonymous sources.

   But she said the use of the Espionage Act "to prosecute whistleblowers
   seeking to shed light on matters of vital public concern is an outrage"
   and defended the right of journalists to report such stories.

   Second leak to The Intercept

   It was the second time someone suspected of leaking information to The
   Intercept had been prosecuted. Last year, a U.S. intelligence
   contractor pleaded not guilty to an espionage count after being accused
   of leaking a classified report on Russian interference in the U.S.
   elections to the news outlet.

   The Justice Department did not identify the news organization that
   received the information Albury leaked. It said he worked at the time
   as a liaison with Customs and Border Protection at the Minneapolis
   airport and had a top-secret clearance that gave him access to some
   secret material.

   The Justice Department said that between 2016 and continuing through
   August 2017, Albury disclosed national defense information classified
   as secret to a reporter.