Kaine: Leakers must ‘suffer the consequences’ of the law

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said Monday that leakers have to “suffer the consequences” of the law, even as he said Americans also deserve to know about Russia’s involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

“Somebody who leaks documents against the law has to suffer the consequences,” Kaine, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s 2016 running mate, told host Erin Burnett on CNN’s “OutFront.” 

“But the American public is entitled to know the degree to which Russia invaded the election to take the election away from American voters, and whether anybody with the campaign or the transition or the Trump administration was working with the Russians to sell out the country,” he added. 

The Department of Justice announced earlier Monday it is charging Reality Leigh Winner, a federal government contractor who has top security clearance, for leaking classified materials to an online news outlet.

{mosads}NBC News reported that Winner provided The Intercept with National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence reporting that Russian intelligence agents launched a cyberattack in 2016 against a voting software manufacturer.

Winner allegedly “printed and improperly removed classified intelligence reporting” last month, “which contained classified national defense information” before mailing the materials to an unnamed online news outlet a few days later, according to the Department of Justice press release.

Details in The Intercept report indicate that it was created on May 5, 2017 — the same day Justice prosecutors say the classified materials Winner is charged with sharing were created. 

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on whether Winner is accused of sharing the report published by The Intercept. 

There are both federal and congressional probes investigating whether Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, including possibly colluding with President Trump’s campaign.

Kaine insisted the probes must get to the bottom of the matter.

“We have to get answers to those questions,” he added.