Maybe stop leaking classified info to the Intercept?

The Intercept has proudly branded itself as the premier news outlet for sources to leak to, publishing a manual literally titled “How to Leak to the Intercept” in 2015. But much like the teenager who thinks himself a rebel but continually gets caught by mom and dad, the Intercept has proven itself incapable of protecting its sources.

The Intercept’s most famous burn was that of hapless National Security Agency leaker Reality Winner. While attempting to verify the authenticity of Winner’s leak, the Intercept checked in with the NSA and revealed the postmark of the leak — where Winner so happened to live. They also sent over a copy of the leak, giving the NSA seven days to figure out the source. It’s also possible that the Intercept didn’t even provide the NSA a retyped version of the leak but the original copy, which would have included tracking dots identifying exactly when and where the leak was printed. Not coincidentally, two of the reporters behind the Winner story, Richard Esposito and Matthew Cole, were partially responsible for the prosecution of CIA leaker John Kiriakou.

Winner’s case ought to be reason enough never to trust the Intercept with such classified information. But the outlet’s had multiple instances of such betrayal, whether intentional or inadvertent. In 2018, former FBI agent Terry Albury was also charged with leaking to the Intercept in the midst of the Trump administration’s crackdown on criminal leaking. The Intercept had crucially issued Freedom of Information Act requests to the FBI which enabled them to link Albury to the leak.

If you want to leak classified information to the press, maybe you shouldn’t. But if you insist on doing it anyway, definitely don’t leak to the Intercept.