Government Accountability Project

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Espionage Act

Drake's First Op-Ed Since Sentencing, When The Judge Slammed The Justice Department

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by Jesselyn Radack on August 01, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

JessTomI know we are all supposed to be writing about the debt ceiling deal, but today's Philadelphia Inquirer published a joint op-ed by myself and NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, his first public writing since pleading guilty to a minor misdemeanor after the Justice Department's Espionage Act case against him unraveled in spectacular fashion days before trial.  

Drake and I wrote:

The Espionage Act was meant to help the government go after spies, not whistle-blowers. Using it to silence public servants who reveal government malfeasance is chilling at best and tyrannical at worst.

This administration's attack on national-security whistle-blowers expands Bush's secrecy regime and cripples the free press by silencing its most important sources. It's a recipe for the slow poisoning of a democracy.

Drake was sentenced to one year of probation and community service on July 15th after pleading guilty to a minor misdemeanor (misuse of a government computer), a far cry from the 35 years he was facing under the Justice Department's original charges. Steven Aftergood of Secrecy News obtained a transcript of the sentencing hearing, and summarized Judge Bennett's choice words for the Justice Department's handling of the case:

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Tom Drake Post-Sentencing Statement

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by Dylan Blaylock on July 20, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

The following statement was made to the press by GAP client and National Security Agency whistleblower Thomas Drake on July 15, 2011, after he was sentenced to one year of probation and 240 hours of community service for his role in exposing gross wrongdoing and waste at the agency. A video clip from The Baltimore Sun is available here, which also features further comments by Drake, GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack, and protesters.

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Today provides real closure for the ordeal I have endured from the indictment of April 2010 and the investigation of the past 5-plus years. The stakes could not have been higher, since I was originally charged by the government with a total of 10 felony counts that I never committed. Today's fair and appropriate sentence for a minor misdemeanor demonstrates that justice did prevail in the end, because truth does matter.

It is always a David vs. Goliath struggle when you are up against the government.

This outcome was not possible without the truly superb criminal defense attorneys who have so ably represented me these past 15 months. I am also most grateful that the Government Accountability Project -- provided crucial whistleblower advocacy and media outreach support during this time, while also serving as my voice when I did not have one. I am worried that the next target of such a witch-hunt will not be as fortunate.

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Judge Has Choice Words for Justice Department's Prosecution of Drake

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by Jesselyn Radack on July 18, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

TomDrakeJess
NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake standing with GAP's Jesselyn Radack after the trial. Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Sun.

I went to the sentencing of former National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, who was charged with 10 felony counts and faced 35 years in prison for allegedly retaining allegedly classified information.

The case extravagantly collapsed as Drake pleaded guilty to a minor misdemeanor of "Exceeding Authorized Use of a Computer" and received a sentence of no jail time and no fine.

Besides the flop of the Obama administration's centerpiece "leak" prosecution, what really stood out to me were the strong words of Judge Richard Bennett, who called the government's handling of the case "unconscionable."

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Inspector General Report Vindicates GAP Clients From National Security Agency

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by Kathleen McClellan on June 23, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

Inspector General (IG) Complainants J. Kirk Wiebe and William Binney React to Release of Report
Thomas Drake Served as Critical Material Witness During IG Investigation.

In response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from GAP, Project on Government Oversight, and media outlets, yesterday, the Department of Defense (DoD) released a heavily redacted version of the December 15, 2004 Audit Report entitled "Requirements for the TRAILBLAZER And THINTHREAD Systems." 

The Report is the result of a years-long investigation launched after three former NSA officials (J. Kirk Wiebe, William Binney, and Ed Loomis) and a former congressional staffer (Diane Roark) filed a DoD Hotline Complaint alerting the IG to massive waste and mismanagement within the National Security Agency (NSA). Former senior NSA official Thomas Drake served as a material witness. GAP represents Wiebe, Binney, and Drake on whistleblower issues.

The whistleblowers asserted that the NSA had defrauded taxpayers and ignored urgent security needs by shelving a functioning program that included critical privacy protections for Americans (Thinthread) in favor of an undeveloped and significantly more costly venture that lacked privacy protections (Trailblazer).

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Newly-Released Inspector General Report Vindicates Drake and Other NSA Whistleblowers

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by Jesselyn Radack on June 23, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

The Department of Defense Inspector General just released a heavily redacted version of the Intelligence Audit "Requirements for the TRAILBLAZER and THINTHREAD SYSTEMS."

NSA whistleblower Tom Drake served as a critical material witness during the investigation for this report.  Drake's reward was an indictment under the Espionage Act. This Report is what government's case against NSA whistleblower Tom Drake was really about.  

Drake would have been on trial this week had the Justice Department's case not crumbled two weeks ago in the face of negative judicial rulings and almost universally critical media coverage (chiefly in The New Yorker and on 60 Minutes).

The newly-released IG report completely vindicates Drake, and the Hotline complainants (former NSA officials J. Kirk Wiebe, Bill Binney and Ed Loomis, and former House Intelligence Committee staffer Diane Roark) who raised concerns that the National Security Agency (NSA) was trading the security of the American people for a undeveloped funding vehicle (Trailblazer) that needlessly invaded the privacy of Americans; all the while NSA rejected a viable, cheaper program (ThinThread) that contained privacy protections and was ready to deploy prior to 9/11.  My organization, Government Accountability Project (GAP), represents Drake, Binney and Wiebe.

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3rd Time's the Charm in Subpoenaing Risen?: Obama's Continued War on Whistleblowers and REPORTERS

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by Jesselyn Radack on June 22, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

New York Times reporter James Risen just filed a motion to quash a grand jury subpoena for him to testify about the identity of his confidential source(s) at the trial of whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling under the Espionage Act.

The motion is as striking for what it DOESN'T SAY (or more aptly, what you CANNOT READ) as for what it does.  Over half of its 48 pages of text are redacted.  Seven are redacted in their entirety.

I can't help but be struck by the similarities of the arguments made by Risen and the issues in the recently-collapsed prosecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake.  I guess with Risen, the government is hoping the third time's the charm, because it has demanded (unsuccessfully) that Risen reveal his confidential sources(s) on this same subject two times before.

James Risen, who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for his investigative reporting, has been subpoenaed to testify about his source(s) in the trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a CIA whistleblower.

The information at issue revealed a botched CIA effort called "MERLIN," designed to provide Iran with flawed nuclear design information.  But the flaw was so obvious that the Iranians spotted it, and it turns out, we ended up providing them useful nuclear weapons information.  Whoops!

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ANOTHER WaPo Editorial: Prosecution Against Drake Poorly Conceived

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by Jesselyn Radack on June 13, 2011 ( The Whistleblogger / 2010 )

The Washington Post has another editorial critical of the prosecution of NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake. Last week's editorial said that the Drake prosecution "smacks of overkill."  

This week, the Post drills down on the Justice Department's glaring defeat in agreeing to let Drake plea to a single misdemeanor with no jail time and no fine when he was originally facing decades in prison for charges under the Espionage Act:

[T]he yawning gap between the original charges against Mr. Drake and the plea bargain is not only an embarrassment for the Justice Department but demonstrates the extent to which it overreached.
Just as important, it focuses on the fact that there's no meaningful whistleblower protection for national security and intelligence employees. Drake has been the model of "responsible" (as defined by the government) whistleblowing.  He went to Congress and the Inspector General, the former of which did nothing, and the latter of which vindicated his concerns and then double-crossed him.

The case against former NSA official Tom Drake ended not with a bang but a burp.

Drake was set to go on trial today for grave charges under the Espionage Act--ironically on the 40th anniversary of the release of the Pentagon Papers by the first man to be prosecuted under the Espionage Act for "mishandling classified information": Daniel Ellsberg.
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