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Katie Couric's Notebook: WikiLeaks
The release of 250,000 State Department documents no doubt presents a serious dilemma for the U.S. ...possibly throwing a wrench into diplomatic works...and perhaps even endangering some government informants.
But has Wikileaks actually committed a crime?
The short answer is...it's unclear. Steven Aftergood, a national security expert with the Federation of American Scientists, told us it's not a crime to publish classified information. If it were, it could potentially open the door to prosecution of The New York Times...or CBS News...or any news organization that tries to make informed choices about what the American public needs to know.
That said, there are consequences to releasing secret documents. It's just unlikely those consequences will affect Julian Assange.
That's a page from my notebook.
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