I don't see how the press release yesterday from the Justice Department tells us anything about the reasons for prosecution of Retired General James E. Cartwright, except that he was retired. It says he was prosecuted for lying to a Federal investigator, which is a catch-all phrase used to justify a prosecution for something nobody wants to talk about. Partly, it is because the incidents in question took place so long ago, it is obvious this is one of those loose ends being tied up before this administration leaves office.
Politico updated their story today to say what this is about and the name in that story is David Sanger, the noted New York Times writer with very good sources in cyber, and Barack Obama, who was said to be close to Carwright. The information disclosed was Top Secret/SCI, some of our most secret things. Cartwright was represented by Greg Craig, the President's former White House Counsel.
The Justice letter back to Carwright's lawyer notes a charge of "abuse of authority" which carries a 2 year sentence, along with the primary charge of lying to a federal investigator, which gets 6 if the judge is so inclined.
Something is not right here. The Politico story reflects the Cartwritght legal view, that he did not make the disclosure to begin with, and only tried to keep the story from being published. That usually doesn't end in prosecution. They could have just said, "bad call" and given him a letter of reprimand, ending his career. That would have fit the narrative better than a criminal prosecution.
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