The Whistleblower and the Wrath of the NSA feat. Thomas Drake
08/26/21 • 104 min
Thomas Drake swore an oath to defend the US Constitution on multiple occasions. His fidelity to that oath put him on a collision course with his employer, the National Security Agency. Drake assisted in an inspector general complaint concerning a costly intelligence boondoggle and aided Congressional investigations into intelligence failures in the lead-up to 9/11.
And as the national security state expanded post 9/11, Drake's oath forbade him to remain silent when the government undertook surveillance that violated the rights of Americans. Drake's good deeds put a target on his back. As a result, he became the signature Espionage Act case in an emerging War on Whistleblowers.
Thomas Drake swore an oath to defend the US Constitution on multiple occasions. His fidelity to that oath put him on a collision course with his employer, the National Security Agency. Drake assisted in an inspector general complaint concerning a costly intelligence boondoggle and aided Congressional investigations into intelligence failures in the lead-up to 9/11.
And as the national security state expanded post 9/11, Drake's oath forbade him to remain silent when the government undertook surveillance that violated the rights of Americans. Drake's good deeds put a target on his back. As a result, he became the signature Espionage Act case in an emerging War on Whistleblowers.
Previous Episode
The CIA v. The Unwanted Spy feat. Jeffrey Sterling
Jeffrey Sterling has described himself as an unwanted spy.
In the early 2000s, he attempted to take the CIA on over its racial discrimination against him. Citing the state secrets doctrine, his case was never considered on its merits. Later, he would go to the Senate Intelligence Committee to alert them about Operation Merlin, a plan to give Iran faulty nuclear plans. After being fired from the CIA, Sterling thought his ordeal was over. Then in 2006, the FBI raided his home and in 2011 brought an indictment against him under the Espionage Act.
Sterling joins host Chip Gibbons to talk about life inside the CIA, his controversial trial, and his path to becoming a whistleblower.
Next Episode
Jailing the Messenger: The CIA's Torture Whistleblower feat. John Kiriakou
After September 11, 2001, the Central Intelligence Agency, with the approval of President George W. Bush, began a highly classified program of renditions and torture. While torture violates both US and international law, President Obama declined to hold any one accountable for the program, saying he was looking forwards, not backwards.
That policy, however, did not apply to whistleblowers. The Obama Administration prosecuted former CIA analyst and case officer John Kiriakou for revealing information about the US torture program. Kiriakou first confirmed the CIA had used waterboarding while Bush was still in office. In spite of the CIA filing a crimes report, they declined prosecution. But the Obama Administration, at the request of CIA Director John Brennan, revived the case and sent Kiriakou to prison.
To date, he remains the only person to be held accountable in connection to the torture program.
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