Yes, publishing NSA secrets is a crime

[Commentary] Rep Peter King (R-NY) sparked a firestorm with his suggestion that Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter who exposed the National Security Agency’s terrorist surveillance activities, ought to be arrested before he can publish more US secrets. Greenwald responded that Rep King wanted to prosecute him for “the crime of doing journalism.” Wrong. Greenwald’s crime is violating 18 USC § 798, which makes it a criminal act to publish classified information revealing government cryptography or communications intelligence. The law specifically states that publishing, not just divulging, such information is a federal crime.