18 U.S.C. § 798 — Disclosure of classified information

Page 188 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 796 the Secretary of the Air Force as ‘‘top secret’’, ‘‘se- cret’’, ‘‘confidential’’, or ‘‘restricted’’, and all such arti- cles, materials, or equipment which may hereafter be so classified, designated, or marked with the approval or at the direction of the President. 3. All official military, naval, or air-force books, pamphlets, documents, reports, maps, charts, plans, de- signs, models, drawings, photographs, contracts, or specifications which are now marked under the author- ity or at the direction of the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, or the Secretary of the Air Force as ‘‘top se- cret’’, ‘‘secret’’, ‘‘confidential’’, or ‘‘restricted’’, and all such articles or equipment which may hereafter be so marked with the approval or at the direction of the President. This order supersedes Executive Order No. 8381 of March 22, 1940 entitled ‘‘Defining Certain Vital Military and Naval Installations and Equipment’’[.] HARRY S. TRUMAN. § 796. Use of aircraft for photographing defense installations Whoever uses or permits the use of an aircraft or any contrivance used, or designed for naviga- tion or flight in the air, for the purpose of mak- ing a photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map, or graphical representation of vital military or naval installations or equipment, in violation of section 795 of this title, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 738; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Based on sections 45, 45a, and 45c of title 50, U.S.C., 1940 ed., War and National Defense (Jan. 12, 1938, ch. 2, §§ 1, 2, 4, 52 Stat. 3, 4). Reference to persons causing or procuring was omit- ted as unnecessary in view of definition of ‘‘principal’’ in section 2 of this title. Punishment provided by section 795 of this title is re- peated, and is from said section 45 of title 50, U.S.C., 1940 ed. Minor changes were made in phraseology. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted ‘‘fined under this title’’ for ‘‘fined not more than $1,000’’. § 797. Publication and sale of photographs of de- fense installations On and after thirty days from the date upon which the President defines any vital military or naval installation or equipment as being within the category contemplated under section 795 of this title, whoever reproduces, publishes, sells, or gives away any photograph, sketch, pic- ture, drawing, map, or graphical representation of the vital military or naval installations or equipment so defined, without first obtaining permission of the commanding officer of the military or naval post, camp, or station con- cerned, or higher authority, unless such photo- graph, sketch, picture, drawing, map, or graph- ical representation has clearly indicated thereon that it has been censored by the proper military or naval authority, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 738; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Based on sections 45 and 45b, of title 50, U.S.C., 1940 ed., War and National Defense (Jan. 12, 1938, ch. 2, §§ 1, 3, 52 Stat. 3). Punishment provision of section 45 of title 50, U.S.C., 1940 ed., War and National Defense, is repeated. Words ‘‘upon conviction’’ were deleted as surplusage since punishment cannot be imposed until a conviction is se- cured. Minor changes were made in phraseology. Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1994—Pub. L. 103–322 substituted ‘‘fined under this title’’ for ‘‘fined not more than $1,000’’. § 798. Disclosure of classified information (a) Whoever knowingly and willfully commu- nicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized person, or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the United States any classified in- formation— (1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic sys- tem of the United States or any foreign gov- ernment; or (2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, appa- ratus, or appliance used or prepared or planned for use by the United States or any foreign government for cryptographic or com- munication intelligence purposes; or (3) concerning the communication intel- ligence activities of the United States or any foreign government; or (4) obtained by the processes of communica- tion intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes— Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both. (b) As used in subsection (a) of this section— The term ‘‘classified information’’ means in- formation which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a United States Gov- ernment Agency for limited or restricted dis- semination or distribution; The terms ‘‘code,’’ ‘‘cipher,’’ and ‘‘cryp- tographic system’’ include in their meanings, in addition to their usual meanings, any method of secret writing and any mechanical or electrical device or method used for the purpose of dis- guising or concealing the contents, significance, or meanings of communications; The term ‘‘foreign government’’ includes in its meaning any person or persons acting or pur- porting to act for or on behalf of any faction, party, department, agency, bureau, or military force of or within a foreign country, or for or on behalf of any government or any person or per- sons purporting to act as a government within a foreign country, whether or not such govern- ment is recognized by the United States; Page 189 TITLE 18—CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE § 799 1 See References in Text note below. The term ‘‘communication intelligence’’ means all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications and the obtain- ing of information from such communications by other than the intended recipients; The term ‘‘unauthorized person’’ means any person who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in subsection (a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the United States Government which is expressly designated by the President to en- gage in communication intelligence activities for the United States. (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the furnishing, upon lawful demand, of information to any regularly constituted committee of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United States of America, or joint committee thereof. (d)(1) Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall forfeit to the United States ir- respective of any provision of State law— (A) any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds the person obtained, di- rectly or indirectly, as the result of such vio- lation; and (B) any of the person’s property used, or in- tended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, such violation. (2) The court, in imposing sentence on a de- fendant for a conviction of a violation of this section, shall order that the defendant forfeit to the United States all property described in para- graph (1). (3) Except as provided in paragraph (4), the provisions of subsections (b), (c), and (e) through (p) of section 413 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 (21 U.S.C. 853(b), (c), and (e)–(p)), shall apply to— (A) property subject to forfeiture under this subsection; (B) any seizure or disposition of such prop- erty; and (C) any administrative or judicial proceeding in relation to such property, if not inconsistent with this subsection. (4) Notwithstanding section 524(c) of title 28, there shall be deposited in the Crime Victims Fund established under section 1402 of the Vic- tims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601) 1 all amounts from the forfeiture of property under this subsection remaining after the payment of expenses for forfeiture and sale authorized by law. (5) As used in this subsection, the term ‘‘State’’ means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States. (Added Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 24(a), 65 Stat. 719; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, § 804(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3439; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 602(c), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3503.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, re- ferred to in subsec. (d)(4), is section 1402 of chapter XIV of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, which was classified to sec- tion 10601 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification as section 20101 of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement. CODIFICATION Another section 798 was renumbered section 798A of this title. AMENDMENTS 1996—Subsec. (d)(5). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out ‘‘the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,’’ after ‘‘Puerto Rico,’’. 1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted ‘‘fined under this title’’ for ‘‘fined not more than $10,000’’ in concluding provisions. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–359 added subsec. (d). § 798A. Temporary extension of section 794 The provisions of section 794 of this title, as amended and extended by section 1(a)(29) of the Emergency Powers Continuation Act (66 Stat. 333), as further amended by Public Law 12, Eighty-third Congress, in addition to coming into full force and effect in time of war shall re- main in full force and effect until six months after the termination of the national emergency proclaimed by the President on December 16, 1950 (Proc. 2912, 3 C.F.R., 1950 Supp., p. 71), or such earlier date as may be prescribed by con- current resolution of the Congress, and acts which would give rise to legal consequences and penalties under section 794 when performed dur- ing a state of war shall give rise to the same legal consequences and penalties when they are performed during the period above provided for. (Added June 30, 1953, ch. 175, § 4, 67 Stat. 133, § 798; renumbered § 798A, Pub. L. 101–647, title XXXV, § 3519(a), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 4923.) Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Section 1(a)(29) of the Emergency Powers Continu- ation Act (66 Stat. 333) as further amended by Public Law 12, Eighty-third Congress, referred to in text, was formerly set out as a note under section 791 of this title and was repealed by section 7 of act June 30, 1953. Proc. 2912, 3 C.F.R., 1950 Supp., p. 71, referred to in text, probably should refer to Proc. 2914, which is set out as a note preceding section 1 of Title 50, War and National Defense. AMENDMENTS 1990—Pub. L. 101–647 renumbered the second section 798 of this title as this section. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries TERMINATION OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY Declaration of national emergency in effect on Sept. 14, 1976, was terminated two years from that date by section 1601 of Title 50, War and National Defense. § 799. Violation of regulations of National Aero- nautics and Space Administration Whoever willfully shall violate, attempt to violate, or conspire to violate any regulation or