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James Wolfe, former security director of the Senate Special Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), was sentenced on Thursday to two months in prison for lying to the FBI about his relationship with a journalist. Wolfe pleaded guilty in October to a federal indictment officer for misrepresentation.
In addition to the prison sentence, Wolfe must serve four months of probation, pay a fine of $ 7,500 and perform 20 hours of community service months during his release period. He will be able to surrender himself and requested a minimum security institution in Cumberland, Maryland.
US. District Judge Ketanji B. Jackson testified in court that she understood the human aspect of why Wolfe lied: "I can certainly imagine how scary it must have been", said Judge Jackson. "At that moment, you were taken in. The template was lifted."
In an interview in December 2017, Wolfe misled FBI agents who were investigating leaking information about the SSCI in the media. Despite warnings that lying to federal agents was a crime, Wolfe denied having any contact with various journalists, including "Reporter # 2," later identified by the New York Times as the journalist Ali Watkins . Watkins had dated Wolfe before joining the newspaper to cover the intelligence community.
Jackson said he took into account Wolfe's high position as a government official in sentencing, as well as decades of service in the country, saying that each factor "reduced" in both directions. "She added that Wolfe should have avoided lying to law enforcement when he would have had the opportunity to tell the truth, especially given the seniority of his post.
Wolfe was SSCI's most senior security officer for three decades, and according to the government sentencing memorandum, he was responsible for "receiving, retaining, and managing classified national security information." provided to SSCI by the USIC, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the FBI, development of SSCI's critical intelligence monitoring functions. "
In addition to these responsibilities, Wolfe is" expressly prohibited, "the memo says, from not speaking to the press about SSCI issues without permission.
Wolfe was arrested in June and charged with three false statements to a government agency after lying about his communications with reporters, but as part of his plea agreement, he pleaded guilty only to the third charge, which related to his Contacts with "Reporter No. 3."
In court on Thursday, Wolfe took a deep breath before delivering a tear.He handed him a box of tissues and took a few moments to prepare himself before solemnly say: "Your honor, it saddens me to stand before you today."
"I've been lying," said Wolfe. "To protect my wife, my sons, and out of selfishness, I lied about those who wanted me to protect and protect my work. "
SSCI bipartisan members had written to the judge asking for Wolfe's clemency, saying," We do not think there is one. any public purpose to deprive him of his freedom. "In his statement on Thursday, Wolfe said that he was taking his job for the Senate" very seriously "and that he had dropped those members. [19659003] Wolfe called his criminal conduct a "personal failure" and apologized to the court, family, friends, court and Senate committee, and he and his lawyers asked the judge to 39; indulgence and imposition of a probation sentence and general interest work so that he could return to his country.
Wolfe and his lawyers did not pronounce themselves After the hearing
Due to the sensitive nature of Wolfe's former job, the government had asked the court for a more severe sentence than that recommended by the federal sentencing guidelines. telling the court: "The FBI and other stakeholders have been forced to time and res sources needed to investigate and assess whether national security had been damaged. "The government asked the judge a 24-month sentence of imprisonment.
Attorney Jocelyn Ballantine said in court that it was" impossible to monetize the damage caused by Mr. Wolfe's behavior. ", citing the enormous assurance that Wolfe's communications did not threaten national security, but she estimated that efforts would have cost the government about $ 250,000.
Jackson asks Ballantine what "Pushed them into his lies" led them to believe that he had been able to harm national security. "Ballantine pointed out that it was an extramarital affair between Wolfe and Watkins, as well as his other contacts with reporters: "According to the government, it is an ongoing behavior that leads to lies." In trying to defend his request for a harsher sentence, Ballantine called the case "unicorn", saying that it was It was difficult to find the appropriate precedent to illustrate the government's request.
Preston Burton, one of Wolfe's lawyers, reiterated to the judge that there was "no evidence" that his client had leaked classified information or endangered national security .
In the end, Jackson rejected and rejected the government's request, saying that prosecutors had not demonstrated how the lies themselves justified a departure from the sentencing guidelines. .
"Again, we must isolate what is criminal and what is not," Jackson said. The judge reiterated that "maintaining relations with journalists is not a crime".
Before imposing her sentence, she told people in court that the case "was not really a leak, but a lie".
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