I’ve had a security clearance continually since I was 18 years old - 45 years. In no instance where I was made privy to an official secret with a validated need to know did I do so without having been first required to sign an agreement beforehand which stipulated the requirements and penalties - and the term for which I was responsible for this.
The government cannot walk up to you, tell you something ‘super secret’ and then ‘threaten punishment’.
They have to brief you beforehand get your signature on something that acknowledges you know what’s what. Legally, that is. If they are operating outside the law like this then they are traitors, our enemy.
If they did this to me and I had not signed anything I’d tell them “f@ck you”. I don’t care if there is a Patriot Act, or if there is a FISA court - they can take me to Guantanamo or wherever then, but I won’t comply.
You won’t get to go to Gitmo...
You’ll go to one of these facilities:
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_fema02.htm
What if the secret they told you was, “You are correct, we are operating outside of the boundaries of the constitution. There are many programs that operate this way. We will kill you and perhaps your family if you breath a word of this. We monitor everything. Now go along your way and live.”
Tough call - No?