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James A. Wolfe (born December 20, 1960) is a former Security Director of the U.S. Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSCI), having served in that position for 29 years. In 2018, he was sentenced to two months in federal prison after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI in relation to an investigation into leaks.

Career

Wolfe was the SSCI Security Director for three decades from 1987 to 2017. In this role, he was in charge of the receipt and management of classified information submitted by the executive power; he was considered a congressional staffer. Prior to that, he served as an Intelligence Analyst for the U.S. Army from 1983 to 1987.

Leaks and prison sentence

Wolfe was sentenced to two month's prison and a $7,500 fine for lying to the FBI during the latter's investigation of his intelligence leaks to Ali Watkins, a New York Times national security journalist, with whom he was involved in a romantic relationship from December 2013 to December 2017. Following imprisonment, Wolfe had to serve four months of supervised release, doing 20 hours of monthly community service.

The Washington Post, News of Australia, and The Spectator all compared Wolfe's case to that of DIA staffer Henry K. Frese, who allegedly passed on secrets to Amanda Macias during a romantic relationship. The New York Times characterized Wolfe's case as procedurally different from that of Natalie Edwards, even though both cases involved leaking to reporters.

Personal life

In 2004, Wolfe was accused of assault by his first wife, Leslie Adair Wolfe, whom he had married in 1984. Wolfe's lawyers denied the charges. Wolfe married Jane Rhodes Wolfe, his second wife, in 2013. In 2018, Wolfe said in court he had an extramarital relationship with a reporter.

Notes

1. Wolfe, who as director of security for the Senate Intelligence Committee had been in charge of receiving and managing classified information provided to the oversight panel by the executive branch for 28 years

References

1. "USA vs WOLFE" (PDF). June 11, 2018. p. 4. Date of birth: 12/20/60
2. "James A. Wolfe, former Senate Intel panel security director, indicted for allegedly lying to FBI". Fox News. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
3. Gerstein, Josh; Choi, Matthew (December 20, 2018). "Ex-Senate aide gets two months in prison for lying to FBI". Politico. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
4. "www.newsweek.com/who-james-wolfe-former-senate-intel-panel-security-director-indicted-lying-fbi-965642". newsweek.com. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
5. Charlie Savage (15 Oct 2018). "Ex-Senate Aide Pleads Guilty to Lying to F.B.I. About Contacts With Reporter". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
6. DEL QUENTIN WILBER; CHRIS MEGERIAN; JENNIFER HABERKORN (11 June 2021). "Justice Dept. to probe secret subpoena for Schiff's records on Trump's watch". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 March 2022. The Justice Department has managed to prosecute congressional staffers for leaking. In late 2018, James A. Wolfe, a staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was sentenced to two months in jail for lying to FBI agents about unauthorized contacts he had with a reporter
7. Jessica McBride (7 June 2018). "James A. Wolfe: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
8. "James Wolfe, ex-intelligence aide, sentenced to prison in leak probe". eu.usatoday.com. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
9. Tau, Byron (20 December 2018). "Ex-Senate Staffer Accused of Lying to FBI Gets Jail Time". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020. A federal judge sentenced a former Senate staffer who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with journalists to two months in jail and a fine of $7,500
10. Elahe Izadi; Paul Farhi (18 December 2020). "The New York Times could not verify ISIS claims in its 'Caliphate' podcast. Now it's returning a prestigious award". The Washington Post. Retrieved 8 January 2021. Ali Watkins, who covered national security for the Times, was given a new assignment in 2018 after she disclosed that she had had a romantic relationship with a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer with access to sensitive intelligence data.
11. Byron Tau (15 October 2018). "Former Senate Staffer Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement to FBI". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2020. Ms. Watkins and Mr. Wolfe were romantically involved, according to prosecutors
12. Erik Wemple (June 14, 2018). "Ali Watkins's substantial conflict of interest". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
13. Stack, Liam (21 December 2018). "Ex-Senate Aide Gets 2 Months in Prison for Lying to F.B.I. About Contact With Reporter". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
14. Erik Wemple (10 October 2019). "Reporters at CNBC and NBC News become tangled in leak investigation". The Washington Post. Retrieved 24 February 2020. That bit of forbearance differentiates this investigation the 2018 case involving New York Times reporter Ali Watkins. In that case, the FBI grabbed records of Watkins' communications with James Wolfe
15. Frank Chung (10 October 2019). "TV host's son interrupts broadcast in viral 'mum moment' — as she's named in classified leak scandal". News Corp Australia. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020. James Wolfe was arrested and charged with lying to investigators about his contacts with three reporters, one of whom he was allegedly in a romantic relationship with. New York Times reporter Ali Watkins had previously tweeted about wanting to be like the character Zoe Barnes
16. Stephen L. Miller (11 December 2019). "Why is everyone pretending reporters never sleep with sources?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020. the three-year affair between (surprise), New York Times reporter Ali Watkins and James Wolfe, a senior aide to the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a frequent source for her stories. In October of this year, an employee of the United States Defense Intelligence Agency was arrested for leaking classified material to two reporters, one of which he was involved in a romantic relationship with
17. Emily Flitter (17 October 2018). "Treasury Official Charged With Leaking Bank Reports to Journalist". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2020. James A. Wolfe, denies that he distributed classified materials, and the Justice Department has not charged him with leaking information. The case against Ms. Edwards is different. When questioned by investigators, Ms. Edwards did not deny having shared them
18. Grynbaum, Michael M.; Shane, Scott; Flitter, Emily (25 June 2018). "How an Affair Between a Reporter and a Security Aide Has Rattled Washington Media". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
19. JOSH GERSTEIN; MATTHEW CHOI (12 December 2018). "Ex-Senate aide gets 2 months in prison for lying to FBI". Politico. Retrieved 19 June 2020. Wolfe and his lawyers argued that he deceived the FBI because he wanted to cover up an extramarital relationship with a reporter. He feared that its disclosure would distress his family

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