Disclosure of Confidential Information—Philippines

An FBI investigation into whether an ex-Marine working as an intelligence analyst for the Bureau, who was charged with espionage last month, has broadened to determine whether he took classified information from the White House when he worked for Vice-President Cheney.^[1] Leandro Aragoncillo, a naturalized US citizen from the Philippines, was arrested and accused of downloading more than 100 classified documents from FBI computers, and is now the focus of an investigation into whether he stole background information on Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, which were allegedly distributed to opposition politicians planning a coup in the Pacific nation.^[2]

Deposed Philippine President Joseph Estrada admitted last month that he received material from Mr. Aragoncillo between mid-2001 and 2003.^[3] According to Mr. Estrada, Mr. Aragoncillo visited him in detention and gave him documents on the political situation in the Philippines.^[4]

On September 12, the FBI announced that the database Mr. Aragoncillo accessed contained, “among other things, classified information and documents from the FBI, and other federal departments.”^[5] Between May 1 and August 15, Aragoncillo printed or downloaded 101 documents concerning the Philippines, of which 37 were classified at the “Secret” level.^[6] Searching his Yahoo! And Hotmail accounts, the FBI discovered that as early as January, Mr. Aragoncillo was transmitting classified documents and information to individuals in the Philippines.^[7]

Mr. Aragoncillo is charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of acting as an unregistered agent subject to the direction of a foreign official, one count of the unauthorized use of a government computer to obtain and transmit classified information to persons not entitled to receive that information.^[8]

Conspiracy
We have previously discussed conspiracy here.

Acting as an Unregistered Agent
Under 18 U.S.C. § 951, it is a crime for a person to act as an agent of a foreign government with notifying the Attorney General of the United States.^[9] The term “agent of a foreign government” means “an individual who agrees to operate within the United States subject to the control of a foreign government or official.”^[10]

The punishment for violating this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to ten years or both.^[11]

Unauthorized Use of a Government Computer
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1030, it is a crime for a person to knowingly access a computer by exceeding his authorized access, and by doing so obtain information that has been determined to require protection against unauthorized disclosure for reasons of national defense or foreign relations, with reason to believe that the information could be used to the advantage of any foreign nation willfully communicate or transmit that information to any person not entitled to receive it.^[12]

The punishment for a violation of this section is a fine, imprisonment for up to 10 years, or both.

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[1] White House Faces Spy Scandal Over Stolen Documents, Agence France-Presse, Oct. 6, 2005, available here.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] FBI, Press Release: FBI Intelligence Analyst Arrested, Accused of Passing Classified Information; Former Philippines National Police Official Also Charged, Sept. 12, 2005, available here.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] 18 U.S.C. § 951(a).
[10] Id. § 951(d).
[11] Id. § 951(a).
[12] Id. § 1030(a)(1).