Republicans in the Senate will introduce legislation later Monday that would prohibit the federal government from entering into contracts with individuals who have used previous access to leak proprietary information.
The bill, dubbed the No Government Contracts for Known Leakers Act, was written in direct response to revelations in the filings of Special Counsel John Durham, Republican Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty told the Daily Caller. According to Durham’s recent filings, Rodney Joffe, an executive with the technology services company Neustar, used proprietary internet data to “establish ‘an inference’ and ‘narrative’ tying then-candidate Trump to Russia.” Neustar had information technology services contracts with the White House, then-candidate Donald Trump’s Manhattan residence, and Trump Tower.
Neustar provided Domain Name System (DNS) services, which allow computers to connect to websites, to the White House, Trump Tower, and Trump’s private residence in 2016. Those services allowed Joffe to access the browsing history and connections of the Trump campaign, and allowed Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign to push a since-debunked story that a computer in Trump Tower was communicating with a computer in Moscow’s Alfa Bank. (RELATED: Report: Durham Using Grand Jury To Investigate Debunked Trump-Russia Connection)
“The recent revelations from court filings in the Durham probe underscore the importance of ensuring that the government is not contracting with individuals who have improperly disclosed nonpublic information,” Hagerty said in a statement. “It is common sense that we should protect taxpayer dollars and information from people who have previously violated the public trust and used government information for ulterior purposes.”
Read the bill here:
Hagerty Leakers Bill by Michael Ginsberg on Scribd
The bill, co-sponsored with Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy, prohibits all federal government officials and entities from signing contracts with “a person who has previously disclosed non-public United States Government information to an unauthorized person” or “an entity for whom a person who has previously disclosed non-public United States Government information to an unauthorized person serves as an employee or agent.”
The law creates a five year maximum prison sentence and a potential $50,000 for any government officials who violate it.
Neustar will hold a DNS contract with the White House through 2028.
“Americans don’t do business with people who refuse to protect their private information, and their government should apply the same standard to leakers,” Kennedy added.