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an te rman ge 2 Te tegen : The Leak - A Non~-criminal Violation a oan criminal Violation I'm not a lawyer, but I an very familiar with Title 18, Section 793, U.S. Code, which relates to Unauthorized Disclosures of Classified Defense Information. When we speak of a "leak," the U. S. public has become conditioned to thinking of it in the terms of the disclosure of Top Secret, Secret, or Confidential data which would be prejudiced to the best interests of our National Defense. The Abscam leak is not a classified disclosure. It is simply an Administrative impropriety on someone's part which I can't believe would even carry a one-day jail term. Mr. Civiletti only threatened to fire the culprit if he was a Justice Department employee. I really have to laugh at this point as I've personally conducted investigations of some of the most earthshaking classified leaks we've had during my time at the Defense Department and have been hamstrung by the investigative methods I was permitted to use. Yet, because of the embarrassment to the parties involved, Mr. Blumenthal speaks of rolling out some big weapons - mind you, for an Administrative leak - such as the polygraph; subpoena power to even possibly call members of the press; in-house wiretaps; and, of course, the taking of sworn statements from suspects. It has yet to be determined just what authority Mr. Prettyman will have. You can bet Government employee morale will be lower after their respective inquisitions. Mr. Civiletti could discreetly have requested his in-house police force ~ the Office of Professional Responsibility - to conduct the inquiry for the suspected leaker. Why didn't he? Motivation Okay, and now to work. Throughout my "leak-chasing" years, I developed several categories in which a leak case would normally fall, id.e., Political, Retaliatory, Conscience, Military Budget, Contrived, etc. Once the category is identified, then pursuing the leaker is easier. The Abscam leak had me puzzled for some time because I couldn't fit it into a particular category. Finally, I realized it had to be Political and the following is the manner in which it was so deduced. First, looking for motivation of the parties involved caused me after examination to eliminate then one at a time. FBI Director William Webster, he's relatively new on the job; has an impeccable reputation and could gain nothing but criticism from the leak. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti, the man who knowingly would end up with the most egg on his face, certainly would have no reason to cause the leak. Then, as in any mystery, there are the butlers ~ Mr. Neil Welch, who is the Assistant Director of the New York FBI Office, became a well-known white collar crime fighter while Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Office. Mr. Welch headed the FBI drive in the Abscam case; and Mr. Thomas Puccio, the Brooklyn Federal Prosecutor in charge of the overall Abscam investigation. Conceivably, each of these two men, if angered by mer mene eae