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Title 50 — War and National DefenseRelease 119-73not60

§3122 Defenses and Exceptions

Title 50 › Chapter 44— NATIONAL SECURITY › Subchapter IV— PROTECTION OF CERTAIN NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION › § 3122

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

Limits who can be charged and gives a few defenses for crimes under 50 U.S.C. 3121. If the United States had already publicly revealed that a person worked with U.S. intelligence before the disclosure, that can be used as a defense. People other than the person who actually did the 3121 offense generally cannot be prosecuted under 3121 by using 18 U.S.C. 2 or 4 or for conspiracy, except if they acted in a pattern to find and expose covert agents and knew that would harm U.S. foreign intelligence, or if they had authorized access to classified information. Sending the covered information directly to either congressional intelligence committee is not an offense. A person may also legally reveal only that they themselves are a covert agent.

Full Legal Text

Title 50, §3122

War and National Defense — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)It is a defense to a prosecution under section 3121 of this title that before the commission of the offense with which the defendant is charged, the United States had publicly acknowledged or revealed the intelligence relationship to the United States of the individual the disclosure of whose intelligence relationship to the United States is the basis for the prosecution.
(b)(1)Subject to paragraph (2), no person other than a person committing an offense under section 3121 of this title shall be subject to prosecution under such section by virtue of section 2 or 4 of title 18 or shall be subject to prosecution for conspiracy to commit an offense under such section.
(2)Paragraph (1) shall not apply (A) in the case of a person who acted 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, or (B) in the case of a person who has authorized access to classified information.
(c)It shall not be an offense under section 3121 of this title to transmit information described in such section directly to either congressional intelligence committee.
(d)It shall not be an offense under section 3121 of this title for an individual to disclose information that solely identifies himself as a covert agent.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 422 of this title prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

Amendments

2002—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 107–306 substituted “either congressional intelligence committee” for “the Select Committee on Intelligence of the Senate or to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

50 U.S.C. § 3122

Title 50 — War and National Defense

Last Updated

Apr 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60