The currently oft-used phrase “leaked to” seems to have largely replaced “obtained by” in the discussion of documents public officials would rather keep under wraps but that surface anyway in our nation’s media.

The phrases are sometimes used interchangeably. They shouldn’t be. Both phrases are freighted with meaning and intent.  Leaked suggests an image of a passive journalist who is merely the vehicle through which the “leaker” exposes information he or she feels is in the public interest to  know that would otherwise be suppressed, or is  information meant to damage an individual, a cause, or a party. (See: DNC and WikiLeaks.)