A former FBI translator is expected to be sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to unlawfully passing on classified US documents.
In federal court, Israeli-American linguist Shamai Kedem Leibowitz admitted leaking five secret FBI documents to an unidentified blogger.
Leibowitz, a Hebrew-English translator who also goes by the name Samuel Shamai Leibowitz, worked for the FBI in Maryland from January to August 2009. There he was given top secret security clearance, allowing him access to highly confidential intelligence information.
The specific content of the documents was not revealed, but the anonymous "Recipient A" wrote a blog post based on information he received between January and April this year.
Some news sources in Jerusalem have identified Leibowitz as a left-wing activist for the Palestinian cause. His grandfather was Yeshayahu Leibowitz, the late Orthodox Jewish scientist, philosopher and Torah scholar who controversially opposed Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security David Kris said that "willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to receive it is a serious crime."
"Today's guilty plea should serve as a warning to anyone in government who would consider compromising our nation's secrets," added Special Agent in Charge Richard McFeeley. "As a trusted member of the FBI ranks, Leibowitz abused the trust of the FBI and the American public by using his access to classified information for his own purposes."
13 December 2009
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