Former Senate staffer indicted; Feds seize 'N.Y. Times' reporter's phone, email records in leak probe

Show Caption Hide Caption Veteran of Senate Intel Committee arrested for lying to FBI An arrest inside the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story.

WASHINGTON — A veteran Senate Intelligence Committee staffer was arrested Thursday on charges of lying to FBI agents during an investigation into the leak of classified information in which federal authorities also seized emails and phone records belonging to a New York Times reporter.

James A. Wolfe, 58, who served as the committee's director of security for nearly three decades, is alleged to have made false statements to agents in December about his contacts with three reporters, according to federal court documents made public late Thursday.

One of the reporters was identified as New York Times correspondent Ali Watkins, the newspaper said Thursday night, adding that the Senate staffer and Watkins had a personal relationship.

"Mr. Wolfe's alleged conduct is a betrayal of the extraordinary public trust that had been placed in him," said Jessie Liu, the chief federal prosecutor in D.C. "It is hoped that these charges will be a warning to those who might lie to law enforcement to the detriment of the United States."

Wolfe is expected to make his first court appearance Friday.

A federal prosecutor notified Watkins on Feb. 13 that the DOJ had obtained information on her Google email accounts and Verizon phone, the Times reported. The seized records spanned years before and after Watkins joined the Times in 2017 to cover federal law enforcement.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is cracking down on White House leaks Attorney General Jeff Sessions issuing a stern warning over the multitude of leaks coming out of the White House. Nathan Rousseau Smith (@fantasticmrnate) reports.

Before she started at the Times, FBI agents sought information from her about a romantic relationship she had with Wolfe, but Watkins said she didn't answer those questions, which were part of an investigation into unauthorized leaks.

The Times reported that Watkins said Wolfe had not been a professional source of information for her. She said before joining the Times she told editors at two previous employers — BuzzFeed News and Politico — about her relationship with Wolfe and continued to cover national security and the Intelligence Committee for them.

According to Justice Department rules for getting information from, or records of, members of the news media, "the approach in every instance must be to strike the proper balance among several vital interests: Protecting national security, ensuring public safety, promoting effective law enforcement and the fair administration of justice, and safeguarding the essential role of the free press in fostering government accountability and an open society."

“It’s always disconcerting when a journalist’s telephone records are obtained by the Justice Department — through a grand jury subpoena or other legal process,” said Watkins’s personal lawyer, Mark J. MacDougall. “Whether it was really necessary here will depend on the nature of the investigation and the scope of any charges.”

In August, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a broad crackdown on unauthorized disclosures of classified information, warning both would-be leakers and the media as he demanded that the "culture of leaking must stop."

Referring to an "explosion'' of leaks since President Trump took office, Sessions said the Justice Department has “more than tripled" the number of active leak investigations compared to the number pending at the end of the Obama administration.

"I have this warning for would-be leakers: Don't do it," Sessions said. "I strongly agree with the president and condemn in the strongest terms the staggering number of leaks," he said.

SCOOP: Justice Dept. Seizes Times Reporter’s Email and Phone Records in Leak Investigation https://t.co/LZedWVrjvq with @npfandos — Adam Goldman (@adamgoldmanNYT) June 8, 2018

At the same time, Sessions offered an ominous warning to the press, saying that prosecutors have launched a review of Justice policy related to subpoenas issued to media organizations in criminal investigations.

"We respect the important role that the press has and we give them respect, but it is not unlimited," Sessions said. "They cannot place lives at risk with impunity."

Sessions doubled down on that position in testifying on Capitol Hill in November: “We intend to get to the bottom of these leaks. I think it has reached epidemic proportions. It cannot be allowed to continue, and we will do our best effort to ensure it does not continue.”

Sessions' remarks threatened a break with the Obama Justice Department policy, which asserted that reporters would not be targeted.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder, taking fire for aggressive investigative tactics taken against journalists, pledged in 2013 that he would "not prosecute any reporter'' for doing their jobs.

The Trump Justice Department, however, has offered no such blanket protections, as Sessions also announced the creation of a new counterintelligence unit within the FBI that would focus exclusively on leaks of classified material to the press and others.

"The attorney general has stated that investigations and prosecutions of unauthorized disclosure of controlled information are a priority of the Department of Justice," Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement late Thursday. "The allegations in this indictment are doubly troubling as the false statements concern the unauthorized disclosures of sensitive and confidential information."

According to her Times biography, Watkins has been credited with several journalistic scoops, including revealing that Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, met with a Russian spy in 2013. She also discovered details on China’s harassment of American spies.And she was the first to report the name of the Russian woman, Olga Vinogradova, who met with former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos during the 2016 campaign.

While working for McClatchy, Watkins was part of a Pulitzer-finalist team for reporting on the CIA's spying on Senate Intelligence Committee computers.

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Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Carolyn McAtee Cerbin on Twitter: @carolyncerbin