---
kind: "section"
citation: "18 U.S.C. § 798"
title: "18"
title_heading: "Crimes and Criminal Procedure"
number: "798"
heading: "Disclosure of classified information"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/18/798"
units:
  - "Part I — Crimes"
  - "Chapter 37 — Espionage and Censorship"
---

# §798. Disclosure of classified information

- (a) [Whoever](/usc/18/921.md?p=a-1) knowingly and willfully communicates, furnishes, transmits, or otherwise makes available to an unauthorized [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5), or publishes, or uses in any manner prejudicial to the safety or interest of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detriment of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) any classified information—
  - (1) concerning the nature, preparation, or use of any code, cipher, or cryptographic system of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) or any foreign government; or
  - (2) concerning the design, construction, use, maintenance, or repair of any device, apparatus, or [appliance](/usc/18/31.md?p=b) used or prepared or planned for use by the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) or any foreign government for cryptographic or communication intelligence purposes; or
  - (3) concerning the communication intelligence activities of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) or any foreign government; or
  - (4) obtained by the processes of communication intelligence from the communications of any foreign government, knowing the same to have been obtained by such processes—

  Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

- (b) As used in [subsection (a)](#a) of this section—

  The term “classified information” means information which, at the time of a violation of this section, is, for reasons of national security, specifically designated by a [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) Government Agency for limited or restricted dissemination or distribution;

  The terms “code,” “cipher,” and “cryptographic system” include in their meanings, in addition to their usual meanings, any method of secret writing and any mechanical or electrical device or method used for the purpose of disguising or concealing the contents, significance, or meanings of communications;

  The term “foreign government” includes in its meaning any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) or [persons](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any faction, party, department, agency, bureau, or [military force](/usc/18/2331.md?p=6) of or within a foreign country, or for or on behalf of any government or any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) or [persons](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) purporting to act as a government within a foreign country, whether or not such government is recognized by the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9);

  The term “communication intelligence” means all procedures and methods used in the interception of communications and the obtaining of information from such communications by other than the intended recipients;

  The term “unauthorized [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5)” means any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) who, or agency which, is not authorized to receive information of the categories set forth in [subsection (a)](#a) of this section, by the President, or by the head of a department or agency of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) Government which is expressly designated by the President to engage in communication intelligence activities for the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9).

- (c) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the furnishing, upon lawful demand, of information to any regularly constituted committee of the Senate or House of Representatives of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) of America, or joint committee thereof.
- (d)
  - (1) Any [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) convicted of a violation of this section shall forfeit to the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) irrespective of any provision of [State](/usc/18/31.md?p=a-9) law—
    - (A) any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds the [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5) obtained, directly or indirectly, as the result of such violation; and
    - (B) any of the [person](/usc/18/229F.md?p=5)’s property used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, such violation.
  - (2) The court, in imposing sentence on a defendant for a conviction of a violation of this section, shall order that the defendant forfeit to the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9) all property described in [paragraph (1)](#d-1).
  - (3) Except as provided in [paragraph (4)](#d-4), the provisions of subsections (b), (c), and (e) through (p) of section 413 of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 ([21 U.S.C. 853(b)](/usc/21/853.md?p=b), (c), and (e)–(p)), shall apply to—
    - (A) property subject to forfeiture under this subsection;
    - (B) any seizure or disposition of such property; and
    - (C) any administrative or judicial proceeding in relation to such property,

    if not inconsistent with this subsection.

  - (4) Notwithstanding [section 524(c) of title 28](/usc/28/524.md?p=c), there shall be deposited in the Crime Victims Fund established under [section 1402](/usc/28/1402.md) of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 ([42 U.S.C. 10601](/usc/42/10601.md))[^1] all amounts from the forfeiture of property under this subsection remaining after the payment of expenses for forfeiture and sale authorized by law.
  - (5) As used in this subsection, the term “[State](/usc/18/31.md?p=a-9)” means any [State](/usc/18/31.md?p=a-9) of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9), the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the [United States](/usc/18/229F.md?p=9).

## Footnotes

[^1]: See References in Text note below.

## Source credit

(Added Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, § 24(a), 65 Stat. 719; amended Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(L), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147; Pub. L. 103–359, title VIII, § 804(a), Oct. 14, 1994, 108 Stat. 3439; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, § 602(c), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3503.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Section 1402 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984, referred to in subsec. (d)(4), is section 1402 of chapter XIV of title II of Pub. L. 98–473, which was classified to section 10601 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification as section 20101 of Title 34, Crime Control and Law Enforcement.

### Codification

Another section 798 was renumbered section 798A of this title.

### Amendments

1996—Subsec. (d)(5). Pub. L. 104–294 struck out “the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,” after “Puerto Rico,”.

1994—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–322 substituted “fined under this title” for “fined not more than $10,000” in concluding provisions.

Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103–359 added subsec. (d).