The New York Times account of David Petraeus's plea deal in connection with a misdemeanor count of mishandling classified information includes the following background:
Mr. Petraeus is far from the first high-ranking official accused of mishandling classified information. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was admonished but not charged in 2008 for keeping information about the National Security Agency's wiretapping program at his house.
John M. Deutch, the C.I.A. director from May 1995 to December 1996, lost his security clearances but was not charged for keeping government secrets on his home computer. Samuel R. Berger, a former national security adviser, pleaded guilty in 2005 to a misdemeanor and paid a $50,000 fine for removing classified documents from the National Archives.
When so many government officials have so much trouble adhering to these laws, perhaps it's time to reconsider the laws, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan suggested in his 1998 book Secrecy.
