By David Ingram and Joseph Ax
Feb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are increasingly seizing on an anti-espionage law to pursue Americans suspected of divulging government secrets to the press, a major shift in the use of the 1917 legislation designed to stop leaks to enemies of the United States.
Eleven times in U.S. history - all since 1971 - federal prosecutors have brought charges under the Espionage Act for disclosing information to a newspaper, blog or other media outlet. Eight of the cases have occurred since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.
In the latest development, former U.S. State Department analyst Stephen Kim, 46, pleaded guilty on Friday to sharing secret information about North Korea with a reporter for Fox News. Kim is one of the 11 cases.
At least one other leak investigation may be ongoing: an inquiry into who told The New York Times about Stuxnet, a U.S. cyberoperation that targeted Iran's nuclear program.
The following are the 11 cases:
PENTAGON PAPERS
Daniel Ellsberg became the first case in 1971, when prosecutors accused the national security analyst and his colleague Anthony Russo of providing what would become known as the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times and other media outlets. The secret documents revealed the extent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Charges against the two men were dismissed when a judge found that the government had wiretapped Ellsberg, possibly illegally.
SOVIET PHOTOS
Samuel Morison, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, was charged in 1984 with illegally passing secret photographs of Soviet ships to a magazine, Jane's Defence Weekly. He pleaded not guilty, but a jury convicted him, making him the first person convicted under the Espionage Act for divulging secrets to the press. He was sentenced to two years in prison but later paroled by President Bill Clinton.
IRAN INTEL
Lawrence Franklin, a U.S. Defense Department employee, was charged in 2005 with passing classified information about Iran to two pro-Israel lobbyists, Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman. Franklin pleaded guilty and received a 12-year sentence. Eventually, after the government's case against Rosen and Weissman collapsed, a judge reduced Franklin's sentence to 10 months in a halfway house.
FBI TRANSLATOR
Shamai Leibowitz was an FBI translator when material that he heard while translating ended up on a blog. He reached an agreement with prosecutors before he was charged, and pleaded guilty in 2009 to one count of disclosing classified information. He was sentenced to 20 months in prison.
NSA WASTE
Former National Security Agency official Thomas Drake was suspected in 2010 of revealing information about the agency's warrantless wiretapping program. He was indicted under the Espionage Act, but said the only information he leaked was about waste in an NSA program, which he gave to the Baltimore Sun. The 10 felony counts were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and received no prison time.
WIKILEAKS SOURCE
Chelsea Manning, an Army private first class formerly known as Bradley Manning, turned over more than 700,000 classified files to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks in the biggest breach of secret data in U.S. history. Manning was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years in a military prison after being found guilty of 19 counts, but acquitted of the most serious one, aiding the enemy. Manning has asked for a presidential pardon.
NORTH KOREA INTEL
Stephen Kim, a U.S. State Department contract analyst, divulged to a Fox News reporter that North Korea was planning a nuclear test in response to heightened sanctions. A grand jury indicted him in 2010 and he pleaded guilty on Friday to the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information. A judge is scheduled to decide on April 2 whether to accept a prison sentence of 13 months as part of the plea agreement.
BOOK SOURCE
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling was charged in 2011 with illegally disclosing classified information about Iran to James Risen, a New York Times reporter, for his book "State of War." The case remains pending, as the government has tried unsuccessfully to force Risen to testify about his sources.
INTERROGATION LEAK
Former CIA officer John Kiriakou was charged in 2012 with divulging secret information to journalists about the CIA's interrogation program, including the identity of a covert officer. In an agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to one count and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS
U.S. officials said in June 2013 they had filed sealed criminal charges against former NSA contractor Edward Snowden for unauthorized leaks and theft of government property. Snowden prompted a worldwide debate after he gave documents to newspapers showing the extent of U.S. surveillance programs. Russia eventually granted him asylum.
YEMEN BOMB PLOT
Former FBI bomb analyst Donald Sachtleben agreed in September 2013 to plead guilty to disclosing national defense information for telling an Associated Press reporter details of a failed airline bombing attempt by Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A federal judge sentenced him to three years and seven months in prison for the leak, the longest sentence yet in a civilian case and second only to Manning's. (Reporting by David Ingram; editing by Howard Goller, Eric Walsh and G Crosse)
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