Intelligence Identities Protection Act and Its Interpretation

Congress passed the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, P.L.97-200 in 1982. The Act, as amended,1 is codified at 50USC §§ 421-426. Under 50USC § 421 criminal penalties are provided, in certain circumstances, for intentional, unauthorised disclosure of information identifying a covert agent, where those making such a disclosure know that the information disclosed identifies the covert agent as such and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal the covert agent's foreign intelligence relationship to the United States. Other sections of the Act provide exceptions and defences to prosecution, make provision for extraterritorial application of the offenses in section 421, include reporting requirements to Congress, and set forth definitions of the terms used in the Act. There do not appear to be any published cases involving prosecutions under this Act. In 1982, the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was enacted into law as an amendment to the National Security Act of 1947. This Act was a response to concerns of members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and others in Congress "about the systematic effort by a small group of Americans, including some former intelligence agency employees, to disclose the names of covert intelligence agents. This new book presents the text of the Act, its interpretation and the Court of Appeals case of closest to the issue of intelligent agents and disclosure of their identities -- Adele HALKIN, et al., v. Richard HELMS.