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Jonathan Pollard is a divisive figure in U.S.-Israeli relations. The former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst was caught spying for Israel in 1985 and was sentenced in 1987 to life imprisonment. The United States and Israel are discussing his possible release as part of efforts to save fragile Middle East peace negotiations, according to sources familiar with the talks. Click through the gallery to see other high-profile leak scandals the United States has seen over the years.
Daniel Ellsberg leaked the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers in 1971. The top-secret documents revealed that senior American leaders, including three presidents, knew the Vietnam War was an unwinnable, tragic quagmire. Further, they showed that the government had lied to Congress and the public about the progress of the war. Ellsberg surrendered to authorities and was charged as a spy. During his trial, the court learned that President Richard Nixon's administration had embarked on a campaign to discredit Ellsberg, illegally wiretapping him and breaking into his psychiatrist's office. All charges against him were dropped. Since then he has lived a relatively quiet life as a respected author and lecturer." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto002" width="640"/>Military analyst Daniel Ellsberg leaked the 7,000-page Pentagon Papers in 1971. The top-secret documents revealed that senior American leaders, including three presidents, knew the Vietnam War was an unwinnable, tragic quagmire. Further, they showed that the government had lied to Congress and the public about the progress of the war. Ellsberg surrendered to authorities and was charged as a spy. During his trial, the court learned that President Richard Nixon's administration had embarked on a campaign to discredit Ellsberg, illegally wiretapping him and breaking into his psychiatrist's office. All charges against him were dropped. Since then he has lived a relatively quiet life as a respected author and lecturer.
Wen Ho Lee was a scientist at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico who was charged with 59 counts of downloading classified information onto computer tapes and passing it to China. Lee eventually agreed to plead guilty to a count of mishandling classified information after prosecutors deemed their case to be too weak. He was released after nine months in solitary confinement. Lee later received a $1.6 million in separate settlements with the government and five news agencies after he sued them, accusing the government of leaking damaging information about him to the media.
Members of the Bush administration were accused retaliating against Valerie Plame, pictured, by blowing her cover in 2003 as a U.S. intelligence operative, after her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson, wrote a series of New York Times op-eds questioning the basis of certain facts the administration used to make the argument to go to war in Iraq.
In 2007, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, was convicted on charges related to the leak of the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. Libby was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with the case. His 30-month sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush. Cheney told a special prosecutor in 2004 that he had no idea who leaked the information.
Aldrich Ames, a 31-year CIA employee, pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 1994 and was sentenced to life in prison. Ames was a CIA case worker who specialized in Soviet intelligence services and had been passing classified information to the KGB since 1985. U.S. intelligence officials believe that information passed along by Ames led to the arrest and execution of Russian officials they had recruited to spy for them.
Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to espionage charges in 2001 in return for the government not seeking the death penalty. Hanssen began spying for the Soviet Union in 1979, three years after going to work for the FBI and prosecutors said he collected $1.4 million for the information he turned over to the Cold War enemy. In 1981, Hanssen's wife caught him with classified documents and convinced him to stop spying, but he started passing secrets to the Soviets again four years later. In 1991, he broke off relations with the KGB, but resumed his espionage career in 1999, this time with the Russian Intelligence Service. He was arrested after making a drop in a Virginia park in 2001.
John Walker ran a father and son spy ring, passing classified material to the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1985. Walker was a Navy communication specialist with financial difficulties when he walked into the Soviet Embassy and sold a piece of cyphering equipment. Navy and Defense officials said that Walker enabled the Soviet Union to unscramble military communications and pinpoint the location of U.S. submarines at all times. As part of his plea deal, prosecutors promised leniency for Walker's son Michael Walker, a former Navy seaman.
was sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2013." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto009" width="640"/>Army Pvt. Bradley Manning was convicted July 30 of stealing and disseminating 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos to WikiLeaks, and the counts against him included violations of the Espionage Act. He was found guilty of 20 of the 22 charges but acquitted of the most serious charge -- aiding the enemy. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in military prison in 2013.
Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of details of U.S. government surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after initially fleeing to Hong Kong. He has been charged with three felony counts, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act, over the leaks." border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0010" width="640"/>Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden revealed himself as the leaker of details of U.S. government surveillance programs run by the U.S. National Security Agency to track cell phone calls and monitor the e-mail and Internet traffic of virtually all Americans. Snowden has been granted temporary asylum in Russia after initially fleeing to Hong Kong. He has been charged with three felony counts, including violations of the U.S. Espionage Act, over the leaks.
- Findings raise security concerns for the U.S. government
- Officials say employees and contractors with financial problems are top targets of foreign intelligence agents
- Study comes as U.S. seeks ways to tighten access to classified information
(CNN) -- About 83,000 Defense Department employees and contractors with security clearances to protect the nation's secrets have delinquent federal tax debts totaling $730 million, according to an internal government audit.
The findings in the new Government Accountability Office study raise security concerns for the U.S. government. Officials say employees and contractors who have financial problems are top targets of foreign intelligence agents.
Federal regulations governing security clearances say that a person "who is financially overextended is at risk of having to engage in illegal acts to generate funds" and that indebtedness should be among factors considered when someone applies for a clearance, the GAO study said. But the study found that government agencies in charge of the issue can't readily collect data on tax debt, in part because IRS privacy rules prohibit sharing certain taxpayer data.
The GAO study is expected to be released Monday. CNN reviewed a copy prior to the release.
The study comes as federal intelligence and law enforcement officials are grappling with ways to tighten access to classified information in the wake of major unauthorized disclosures carried out by insiders cleared to handle the nation's most sensitive secrets.
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Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, and Bradley Manning, an Army private who now calls herself Chelsea Manning, passed the required background checks to obtain their security clearances. Snowden, under Russian government protection in Moscow, is charged with releasing to reporters millions of NSA surveillance documents. Manning was convicted of violating the Espionage Act, for releasing thousands of diplomatic cables and military documents.
The 83,000 employees and contractors with tax debt in the GAO study are among 3.2 million people who the Pentagon says held or were approved for secret, top secret, SCI [sensitive compartmented information] and interim security clearances from January 2006 to December 2011, the period covered by the GAO study. The $730 million in tax debt was as of June, 30, 2012, the most recent data analyzed by the study.
Most accrued their unpaid tax debt after they received their clearances.
Of the 83,000 with tax debt, about 4,800 had IRS liens against their property. About 28% or 23,000 of them were subject to wage garnishment and other collection tactics by the IRS to collect taxes owed.
According to the GAO, the Pentagon distinguishes between those who are eligible for access to classified information and a smaller subset of those who "need to know" and are therefore granted access to classified documents.
But even by that measure, the numbers are problematic. The GAO found 26,000 Defense Department employees and contractors with access to classified information owed about $229 million in delinquent tax debt.
There are now 5.1 million federal employees and contractors eligible or holding security clearances, a number hard to police, government officials say.
The Office Director of National Intelligence, which is developing new procedures to tighten the security clearance procedures, agreed with the GAO's recommendation that tax debt be more readily available to investigators who gather background data on applicants for security clearances.
The problem is the government is still struggling with technology that could provide automated tax debt information on applicants at the time of their application and during the time the security clearance is valid, according to the GAO. There are also privacy restrictions that limit what data the IRS can provide on taxpayers.
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