Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- May 9, 2019
- Location
- Alexandria, Virginia
Included in the indictment against Daniel Everette Hale is a chart of secret and top secret documents that he is accused of acquiring and printing.
Former intelligence analyst sentenced to 45 months in prison under the Espionage Act
Former intelligence analyst Daniel Everette Hale was sentenced to 45 months in prison on July 27, 2021, after pleading guilty to charges that he leaked classified information to a reporter, according to a press release from the Justice Department.
Hale was arrested on May 9, 2019, and charged with leaking classified information about drone warfare and other counterterrorism measures to a reporter. The reporter was not identified in court documents but is believed to be Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of the investigative news outlet The Intercept, who has written widely on the U.S. drone program.
After initially pleading not guilty to the charges of retention and transmission of national defense information, Hale changed his plea to guilty on March 31, 2021, according to the DOJ press release.
During Hale’s sentencing hearing, the arguments centered around his rationale for leaking the documents and whether that should impact his sentence, The Associated Press reported. His 45-month sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release.
Former intelligence analyst pleads guilty to leaking classified documents to reporter
Former intelligence analyst Daniel Everette Hale pleaded guilty on March 31, 2021, to charges that he leaked classified information to a reporter, according to a press release from the Justice Department.
Hale was arrested on May 9, 2019, and charged with leaking classified information about drone warfare and other counterterrorism measures to a reporter. The reporter was not identified in court documents but is believed to be Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of the investigative news outlet The Intercept, who has written widely on the U.S. drone program. Hale pleaded not guilty during an initial appearance hearing a week after his arrest, CNN reported.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said in a statement that "Hale has now admitted what the evidence at trial would have conclusively shown: that he took classified documents from his work at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, documents he had no right to retain, and that he sent them to a reporter, knowing all along that what he was doing was against the law."
Hale pleaded guilty to retention and transmission of national defense information and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years, according to the Justice Department. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 13, 2021.
Former intelligence analyst Daniel Everette Hale was arrested on May 9, 2019, and charged with leaking classified information about drone warfare and other counterterrorism measures to a reporter.
Hale has been charged with five crimes related to the disclosure of military-related information, and could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted.
The Justice Department indictment details alleged contact with a reporter dating back to April 2013, at which time Hale is accused of meeting with the reporter at a bookstore in Washington, D.C. The indictment lists 36 total documents Hale is alleged to have printed, 11 of which are classified.
While the reporter to whom Hale is accused of leaking is not named in the indictment, the description and timing of the reporting described in the document suggest it is Jeremy Scahill, who co-founded The Intercept and has reported extensively on U.S. military activities. The Intercept said it does not comment on anonymous sources in its statement on the indictment.
James Risen, director of First Look Media’s Press Freedom Defense Fund and The Intercept’s senior national security correspondent, also released a statement:
“Like previous prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources, the prosecution of Daniel Everette Hale amounts to an abuse of the Espionage Act to criminalize the process of reporting. Everyone who cares about press freedom should reject the government’s outrageous crackdown on whistleblowers, which accelerated dramatically under President Barack Obama and has escalated further under Donald Trump, targeting the very people who are working the hardest to hold the government accountable for abuses and to protect our democracy.”
Hale is the seventh person to be investigated by the Trump Justice Department for allegedly sharing confidential information with the press. The Trump administration is on pace to surpass the Obama administration’s record of the most prosecutions of alleged journalistic sources. During President Obama’s eight years in office, the Department of Justice brought charges against eight people accused of leaking to the media.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
