I AGREE WITH PAUL RYAN.

I AGREE WITH PAUL RYAN. Damn. Did I say that out loud, or just think it? :-)

A leak can mean I'm party to an off-the-record lunch with Trump but then anonymously leak what was said. Impolite and grounds for termination if an employee. But not illegal.

The leaks that count are leaks from classified information that comes into one's possession through one's professional employment. Leaks that endanger the means and methods by which the government acquired the information (such "means and methods" possibly including an individual whose life has just been put at risk).

If that employee determines, for whatever reason, to leak that information to the journalist it is fair game for the media outlet to make that public... AFTER confirming the information with the government and making whatever reasonable redactions the government requests... then that is on the leaker and the press HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY to give up their source to the government.

Now, if the journalist IN ANY WAY encourages or enables or assists the leaker in leaking, then they share - morally and legally - the guilt of the leaker.

If the individual who leaked the contents of Flynn's intercepted (presumably by the NSA, CIA, or FBI) call to the Russian ambassador at the end of December is caught, their career is ruined and they'll probably go to jail. And, legally, they should.

However, had they not leaked that, we would still have a foreign agent as National Security Advisor, James Comey would still be head of the FBI, and we would not have a Special Prosecutor who - I am convinced - WILL get to the bottom of who did what in the election.

So, legally, guilty. Morally, God knows. Historical legacy?

They may yet be naming elementary schools after him or her.

"Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) defended journalists Friday, saying that while intelligence leaks compromise national security, it's "the problem of the leaker, not the journalist."  

""Leaks are concerning because leaks can often compromise national security, but that’s the problem of the leaker not the journalist," Ryan said at an event in Muskego, Wis., on Friday afternoon."

Paul Ryan: Intel leaks 'the problem of the leaker, not the journalist' (The Hill)