FBI Files: Justice Dept Created Anti-Leaking Unit After Media Leaks

A heavily-redacted five page secret document from the FBI revealed some details about the extremely opaque establishment of a new “anti-leaking” unit established within the Justice Department in 2017.

The unit was established because of the Trump Administration’s growing concerns about media leaks during their first year in office. The document was obtained by Young Turks in a FOIA request.

The document’s redactions are extreme, with one page of blacked out paragraphs saying only the words “the new Unit.” It offers very little in details, saying the unit was needed to manage the “national (redacted) threat” posted by the leaks.

While the past several administrations have struggled with embarrassing media leaks, this unit shows the Trump Administration as a lot more hostile toward the idea. This is unsurprising given President Trump’s general hostility toward critical media outlets, and the document couches the program as dealing with “media leak threats,” and talks up the idea of treating them as “violations of the espionage laws of the United States.”