NSA wanted to use the Espionage Act to prosecute a journalist for using FOIA

Emma Best, MuckRock, Oct. 24, 2017

Declassified documents in the Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) archives show that while the CIA was looking to include the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) in its war on leaks, the National Security Agency (NSA) was seriously considering using the Espionage Act to target target Puzzle Palace author James Bamford for using FOIA.

While Bamford has briefly discussed this on a handful of occasions, the declassified memos and briefings from NSA confirm that this was more than just an intimidation tactic or a passing thought - the NSA had truly wanted to jail a journalist for his use of public records. When the Agency determined that this was unlikely to happen, they moved on to exploring other legal avenues which could be used to punish Bamford for his FOIA work.

Read more here.