General admits he misled FBI

He pleads guilty to falsehoods in Iran cyberattack leak

Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright (left) and attorney Greg Craig leave U.S. District Court in Washington on Monday. Cartwright pleaded guilty to charges related to an investigation of leaked classified information about a cyberattack against Iran.
Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright (left) and attorney Greg Craig leave U.S. District Court in Washington on Monday. Cartwright pleaded guilty to charges related to an investigation of leaked classified information about a cyberattack against Iran.

WASHINGTON -- A former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff pleaded guilty Monday to making false statements during an investigation into a leak of classified information about a covert cyberattack on Iran's nuclear facilities.

Retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright entered the plea at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Leon. When Leon asked if Cartwright understood the charge, he said, "I do, sir."

The offense carries a maximum of five years in prison, but Cartwright's attorney told the judge that the government and defense counsel had agreed on a recommended sentence of no more than six months. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January, and it will be up to Leon to decide the sentence.

Part of the sentencing proceeding, Leon said Monday, might be held in secret to discuss classified information.

The plea came hours after the charge against Cartwright was announced by the office of U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein of Maryland.

U.S. officials in June 2013 disclosed that Cartwright was the target of a Justice Department investigation into a leak to New York Times reporter David Sanger of details about a highly classified operation to hobble Iran's uranium-enrichment capability through cybersabotage.

The plea agreement said that between January and June of 2012, Cartwright "provided and confirmed classified information" to Sanger. Cartwright also confirmed classified information in February 2012 to another journalist, Daniel Klaidman, that was included in an article for Newsweek magazine, the agreement said.

In a written statement to reporters distributed after his plea, Cartwright said, "It was wrong for me to mislead the FBI [in a voluntary interview] on Nov. 2, 2012, and I accept full responsibility."

Cartwright also said in the statement: "I knew I was not the source of the story and I didn't want to be blamed for the leak. My only goal in talking to the reporters was to protect American interests and lives." He added, "I love my country and continue to this day to do everything I can to defend it."

Cartwright, 67, was vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 until 2011, and was considered a key adviser to President Barack Obama. The Marine general was known for his expertise in the more technical areas of cyberwarfare and America's nuclear enterprise.

The New York Times reported in 2012 that Cartwright was a crucial player in the cyber operation called Olympic Games, started under President George W. Bush.

The Times had said that Obama ordered the cyberattacks sped up, and in 2010 an attack using Stuxnet temporarily disabled 1,000 centrifuges that the Iranians were using to enrich uranium.

Congressional leaders had called for an criminal investigation into who leaked the information, and some Republicans said senior administration officials had disclosed the details of the cyber operation to bolster the president's national security credentials during his 2012 campaign for re-election. Obama, for his part, said he had zero tolerance for such leaks.

In a statement Monday, the Times said it would not discuss the sourcing of any information published in the newspaper or by Sanger.

"These investigations send a chilling message to all government employees that they should not speak to reporters. The inevitable result is that the American public is deprived of information that it needs to know," the Times said.

FBI investigators focused on Cartwright in the fall of 2012, officials said. They interviewed him at least twice, according to people who are familiar with the case and who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Cartwright had White House authorization to speak with reporters, according to people familiar with the matter.

But during his interviews with FBI special agents, Cartwright made false statements, the government alleged. That gave prosecutors the grounds to bring the felony charge.

Cartwright's attorney, Gregory Craig, said in a written statement after the plea that in conversations with Sanger and Klaidman, Cartwright "was engaged in a well-known and understood practice of attempting to save national secrets, not disclosing classified information. His effort to prevent publication of information that might harm American lives or national security does not constitute a violation of any law."

Information for this article was contributed by Sam Hananel, Eric Tucker and Lolita C. Baldor of The Associated Press and by Spencer S. Hsu and Ellen Nakashima of The Washington Post.

A Section on 10/18/2016

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