Justice Messed Up

For John, BLUF:  You should never lie to the person doing your Poly (Polygraph), the Priest hearing your confession (he could be another Father John Vianny or a Padre Pio) or Government Officials (but look for them to lie to you).  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Former general pleads guilty in false statements probe

This is from the AP, yesterday, and the Reporters are Messrs Sam Hananel and Eric Tucker.  The lede plus three:

A former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff pleaded guilty Monday to making false statements during an investigation into a leak of classified information about a covert cyberattack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright entered the plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, convened just a few hours after the Justice Department announced the charges.

The plea ends a Justice Department investigation that began after the 2012 leak to reporters of information about use of a computer virus called Stuxnet that disabled equipment the Iranians were using to enrich uranium.

The offense carries a maximum of five years in prison, but under a plea agreement, the government is recommending a sentence in the range of zero to six months.  Cartwright is scheduled to be sentenced on January 17, and it will be up to Leon to decide the sentence.

First Off:  I think it is wrong that we have a law that says it is a crime to lie to a Federal Official (what is sworn testimony for, after all), but it is perfectly legal for a Federal Official to lie to your average citizen.  Those folks on Capitol Hill need to change this.  And they should have changed it years ago, like when Mr Scooter Libby was jacked up over the disclosure of the CIA status of Ms Valerie Plame, when he was not actually connected to the actual crime.  Shame.

Secondly:  I really don't see General Cartwright as doing something egregious with regard to national security, not like Mrs Hillary Clinton and her unsecured homebrew server.

Regards  —  Cliff