A former State Department adviser has pleaded guilty of sharing national defense information with Fox News reporter James Rosen. Stephen Jin-Woo Kim admitted to leaking a top-secret intelligence report on North Korea to Rosen, who was targeted by the Department of Justice in relation to the leak investigation, The Washington Post reports:
The plea agreement calls for Kim to serve 13 months in prison, far less jail time than recommended under federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors have also agreed to drop a second charge of lying to federal agents. Kim, 46, decided to plead guilty, his lawyer said, because of the possibility of more than 15 years in jail and to be able to “find a path back to some normalcy.”
“Stephen Kim admits that he wasn’t a whistleblower. He admits that his actions could put America at risk,” U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr. said in a statement. “As this prosecution demonstrates, we will not waver in our commitment to pursuing and holding accountable government officials who blatantly disregard their obligations to protect our nation’s most highly guarded secrets.”
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