Article
Government Review Holds Up Appeal
A former government employee convicted for unlawful possession of classified documents can’t file an appeal because the government hasn’t released court transcripts in his case.
The government won’t release transcripts of hearings, which include pretrial and bench conferences, until a review is completed that checks for classified information. It has been reviewing the documents for six months, the Washington Post reports.
Kenneth W. Ford Jr., a former employee at the National Security Agency, was convicted in December 2005. He had claimed the classified documents found in his home were for a new job.
“It’s just very, very frustrating,” said Ford’s attorney, Spencer M. Hecht, who has filed a motion to compel release of the documents.
