NORFOLK, Va. -- Two days before a Navy lawyer allegedly mailed a list of Guantánamo captives' names to a New York human rights group -- tucked inside a Valentine -- he signed a military form agreeing not to disclose ''any government information,'' according to testimony at his court-martial Tuesday.Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Diaz, 41, faces up to 24 years in prison if convicted of five charges ranging from unlawfully releasing classified material that could harm the United States to conduct unbecoming an officer.
Prosecutors argue that the list containing names, codes and serial numbers of 500-plus Guantánamo captives was a national security secret when Diaz sent a shrunken version in January 2005 to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a civil liberties law firm suing on behalf of both publicly identified and nameless war-on-terror captives.
His lawyers argue the list was not marked ''secret'' or otherwise classified inside a special-access Defense Department computer that contained detainee intelligence information. Moreover, they say, he did not intend to harm national security or help America's enemies.
| His intent isn't the issue, his actions are. |
''I will never divulge, publish or reveal any government information,'' it said. Also: ``I will not communicate or transmit any Defense information to any unauthorized persons.''
| There's a big ooops. He's not going to argue his way around that one. |
Prosecutors claim that two days after he signed the agreement, Diaz mailed the material from Guantánamo inside a fire-engine-red envelope containing a Valentine with a droopy-eyed Chihuahua on the cover.
The New York legal and human rights group turned the list over to a federal court security officer, who in turn alerted the FBI.
| After making copies, of course. |
Later in the day, Diaz's successor as deputy staff judge advocate, Navy Reserves Lt. Cmdr. Tony de Alicante, testified that it was widely understood that material handled by the office was to be shrouded in secrecy. ''It was clear'' to new arrivals, he testified, ``that we were walking into a classified environment and we were expected to protect the things we were exposed to.''
| So everyone got the memo except Diaz. He's toast. |