Former NSA Senior Executive Charged

A DOJ Press Release tells of a 10-count Indictment (Main Justice Blog has Indictment here) against a former senior National Security Agency official.  The charges include "the willful retention of classified information, obstruction of justice and making false statements."  The allegations are extremely serious - although he is not charged with leaking information, but rather the retention of national security information and then "short-cut" after the events type of offenses. 

The immediate question one has relates to motive.  If the allegations are true, why would a senior NSA official do this? There are no allegations of money being received by this individual.  Nor are there any allegations of political power as a motivation. The best one sees in this Indictment is a reference to a person A, a former congressional staffer, and Reporter A, from an unknown newspaper. With respect to Person A, the indictment states that the accused "had a self-described 'close, emotional friendship' and 'different and special' relationship with Person A that included the unauthorized disclosure of unclassified and classified information to Person A . . ."

So what was the motive for releasing this information to the press, if it in fact happened?  And was it a good motive?  This is definitely a case to follow.

See also Scott Shane, NYTimes, N.S.A. Official Facing Charges In Leaks Case

(esp)