NYT columnist on Snowden story: I'd "almost arrest" Greenwald; NBC host: he "aided and abetted"

On his Sunday politics/media talk show Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Glenn Greenwald, "To the extent that you have 'aided and abetted' [Edward] Snowden, even in this current movement, why shouldn't you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with a crime?"

One day later, New York Times financial columnist and author Andrew Ross Sorkin made the strange claim that'd he "almost arrest" Greenwald as well. [Update: Sorkin apologized, Greenwald accepted, live hug-cast at 6 on your local news channel.]

Trevor Timm of Freedom of the Press Foundation writes : "Anytime journalist X says "prosecute journalist Y," it becomes instantly clear journalist X can be charged under the same or very similar theories."

Meanwhile, government documents obtained by McClatchy newspapers show how some government agencies are using the Obama administration's broad approval of leak crackdowns to pursue unauthorized release of any information, not just "classified" or "secret" leaks. But the new government narrative is clear: to leak is to spy.

They also show how millions of federal employees and contractors must watch for "high-risk persons or behaviors" among co-workers and could face penalties, including criminal charges, for failing to report them. Leaks to the media are equated with espionage. "Hammer this fact home…leaking is tantamount to aiding the enemies of the United States," says a June 1, 2012, Defense Department strategy for the program that was obtained by McClatchy.