§3121 — Title 50 War and National Defense | U.S. Code

Summary

People who reveal the identity of a covert U.S. intelligence agent can be punished. If you now have, or used to have, authorized access to classified material that identifies a covert agent and you intentionally tell someone who is not allowed to get classified information, knowing the person is a covert agent and that the U.S. is trying to hide that relationship, you can be fined under federal law or jailed for up to 15 years, or both. If you learn an agent’s identity because of your authorized access and then tell an unauthorized person, the penalty is up to 10 years. If you repeatedly try to find and expose covert agents and reasonably believe your actions will harm U.S. intelligence, and you disclose an agent’s identity, the penalty is up to 3 years. Any jail time under these rules must be added on to any other prison sentence.

Title 50, §3121

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 15 years, or both.

(b)Whoever, as a result of having authorized access to classified information, learns the identity of a covert agent and intentionally discloses any information identifying such covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent’s intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(c)Whoever, in the course of a pattern of activities intended to identify and expose covert agents and with reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States, discloses any information that identifies an individual as a covert agent to any individual not authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such individual and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such individual’s classified intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

(d)A term of imprisonment imposed under this section shall be consecutive to any other sentence of imprisonment.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 421 of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2010—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–259, § 363(a)(1), substituted “15 years” for “ten years”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 111–259, § 363(a)(2), substituted “10 years” for “five years”. 1999—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 106–120, § 304(b)(2)(A), substituted “shall be fined under title 18” for “shall be fined not more than $50,000”. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 106–120, § 304(b)(2)(B), substituted “shall be fined under title 18” for “shall be fined not more than $25,000”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 106–120, § 304(b)(2)(C), substituted “shall be fined under title 18” for “shall be fined not more than $15,000”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106–120, § 304(b)(1), added subsec. (d).

§3121 Protection of identities of certain United States undercover intelligence officers, agents, informants, and sources

Summary

Title 50, §3121

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Citations & Metadata