Judge 'completely discarded' Trump appointee's wild claims in espionage sentence

A federal judge "completely disregarded" the demands of a Trump administration appointee to throw a CIA leaker in prison for 10 years, The Intercept reported on Wednesday.

"U.S. District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles said she had to balance the potential harm caused by Asif William Rahman’s disclosure of secret analyses of Israel’s plans for an attack on Iran against his swift decision to cooperate and plead guilty to two Espionage Act violations," reported Matt Sledge. During the sentencing, "Giles gave credit to the defense’s argument that Rahman acted both in response to soaring tensions in the Middle East and out of trauma caused in part by a deployment to Iraq."

“For someone who has lived such a law-abiding life for all these years, for you to go from that to this — reckless, dangerous — I understand that something must have been going on,” Giles stated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Troy Edwards told Giles that he acknowledged the sentencing decision here was "complicated" and that the government had not charged Rahman with an offense that would require proving the leaks caused actual harm. Nonetheless, they advised throwing the book at him to send a message.

“When you take an oath to serve this country it means something, and it has to mean something,” said Edwards.

Giles, however, didn't buy the argument. She ultimately sentenced Rahman to 19 months in prison, plus two years' probation and a $50,000 fine.

All of this comes as the Trump administration works through the fallout of a scandal in which Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was caught multiple times leaking highly sensitive military attack plans through group Signal chats that included a journalist and members of his family.

It also comes as the Trump administration institutes a crackdown on less severe forms of leaking, namely, insiders revealing embarrassing details about the administration's inner workings and drama to the press. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has subjected department officials to polygraphs in the quest to stamp out leaks.