THE WEEKLY SCALAWAG: DRUG ENFORCEMENT AGENCY

For chipping away at democracy

First the feds spooked us with the Total Information Awareness project and
its creepy, Big-Brother-joins-the-Masons, all-seeing-eye logo. Now they're
reminding us that, as far as our government is concerned, the flow of
information is a one-way street -- or else.

How else can one interpret the extensive effort that the Atlanta division of
the federal Drug Enforcement Agency went to recently in putting one of its
own people behind bars for the high crime of talking to the press about
minor details of an investigation? Not only was U.S. security not at stake,
but the information didn't even involve the U.S.

Jonathan Randel, a minor DEA intelligence analyst, had been approached in
1999 by a British TV reporter looking for inside information regarding a
prominent Tory party official with alleged ties to banks on the island of
Belize, which have been blamed for helping launder drug money.

Although the DEA hadn't linked the conservative leader decisively to
criminal activity, Randel apparently wanted to expose his questionable
business dealings. The information he leaked from DEA files was considered
"sensitive" but not classified; it caused quite a stir, however, when it
appeared in a series of front-page articles by the highly regarded Times of
London.

The scandalized politician sued the newspaper, which asked Randel to come to
London to testify on its behalf, compensating him $13,000 for travel
expenses and lost salary.

The DEA zeroed in on that money, charging Randel with selling state secrets;
he was handed a one-year prison sentence Jan. 9.

First off, there's a huge double-standard at work here: Administration
officials and other favored bureaucrats leak information to the press all
the time with no fear of reprisal. The fact that the agency subsequently
made public much of the same file Randel was accused of pilfering shows that
the information itself was irrelevant. The feds wanted to send the message
that they're prepared to come down hard on folks caught leaking government
information, however unimportant.

The Randel case is chilling precisely because it ignores the reality that
leaks represent a cornerstone of democracy. In fact, they're the American
way. If journalists had to rely on press conferences and official news
releases for their scoops, we may as well all move to Pyongyang.

The Weekly Scalawag is now accepting nominations. E-mail
scott.henry@creativeloafing.com.