Federal agents are now investigating a “second leaker” within the U.S. intelligence community who followed in the footsteps of Edward Snowden and turned over classified information to the media.

According to Michael Isikoff at Yahoo! News, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has identified a federal contractor suspected of leaking sensitive documents about the federal government’s terrorist watch list to journalist Glenn Greenwald.

Greenwald gained prominence when Snowden provided him with a trove of secret papers on National Security Agency surveillance programs targeting Americans, foreign leaders and others.

The second leaker reportedly gave Greenwald details about how the government decides whom to place on terror watch lists.

In February, Greenwald told CNN that “it’s fair to say that there are people who have been inspired by Edward Snowden’s courage and by the great good and virtue that it has achieved.”

Agents searched the suspect’s home, leading to an investigation by federal prosecutors in Northern Virginia.

Beyond that, the intelligence community is waiting to see if the Obama administration goes after this unknown whistleblower like it did with Snowden. Criticism over how the administration went after Snowden and others like him may have caused the Department of Justice to lose its “appetite” for these kinds of cases, Isikoff reported.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Feds Identify Suspected ‘Second Leaker’ for Snowden Reporters (by Michael Isikoff, Yahoo News)

New Leaker Disclosing U.S. Secrets, Government Concludes (by Evan Perez, CNN)

More than 20,000 Americans are on Terrorist Watch Lists, including 800 on No-Fly List (by Noel Brinkerhoff and Steve Straehley, AllGov)

Obama’s War on Leaks Found to be the “Most Aggressive since Nixon” (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

NSA Leak Journalist’s Partner Interrogated in 9-Hour Detention by British, Citing Terrorism Law (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Embarrassed by Leaks, NSA to Replace 90% of System Administrators with Automation (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)