If Hillary Clinton Gets a Pass on Espionage From President Obama, So Should Whistleblowers

John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst, wrote a great article for truthdig. John is know for his December 10th interview with ABC News about his participation in the capture of Abu Zubaydah and his knowledge about the torture program.

From the passage of the Espionage Act in 1917 until Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, only three Americans were charged with espionage for revealing classified information publicly. But under Obama, eight Americans have been charged with espionage, including me. All of us were accused of providing classified information to the press, most of us as whistleblowers. None of us was ever accused of giving information to a foreign country. Advertisement

The Obama Justice Department didn’t care in our cases that many of us had gone to the press with evidence of governmental waste, fraud, abuse and illegality. We all faced long prison sentences—long enough that we could have died in prison. Indeed, NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake faced 35 years for blowing the whistle on the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. The case against him fell apart in the end, and all felony charges were dropped. I faced 45 years after blowing the whistle on the CIA’s torture program. I took a plea to violating the IIPA and served 23 months in a federal prison. Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for providing WikiLeaks with evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq.

All I did was to confirm the name of a former CIA colleague to a reporter. The reporter never made the name public, and there was no harm to the national security. But I still faced up to 10 years in prison just for that revelation. So why should the criterion for Clinton be that nobody died?

I totally agree with John and Hillary should be prosecuted.

It's like finally realising what that nasty taste in your mouth is.. Thanks for connecting the dots...

And the sad part is, this is just a very small bit of the overall rancid flavour that goes along with that dish..

I believe she can't. She's too... oh well, don't know if the word exist when it comes to dishonesty and treason against the Americans and its Government.

originally posted by: Quauhtli
It's like finally realising what that nasty taste in your mouth is.. Thanks for connecting the dots...

And the sad part is, this is just a very small bit of the overall rancid flavour that goes along with that dish..

As forest gump might say, "Hillary is like box of chocolates, they does look good when they're new, so you pop 'em in your mouth and they taste good for a moment, but as soon as you bite down you find out the centres have come from the excavation of an outhouse and it don't taste like truffles."

Cheers - Dave

How dare they speak against big brother!

It's quite telling when the current administration is so adamant about silencing those who speak against their ideal portrayal of the country.

"We don't have a spending problem."
--Obama

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

Hi TheAmazingYeti,
Thanks for posting it.
1. No matter what happens, Hillary is entitled to (because she's way above the law) and will receive, a presidential pardon.
2. No matter what happens, the low-information-voters will remain exponentially stupid, and they will block-vote for Hillary.
3. No matter what happens, Hillary is guaranteed to garner all votes from:
--- Illegal Aliens*
--- Dead Voters
--- Hacked Dibold voting machines
--- Every voter who voted for hussein soetoro

*(Millions of illegals (Mexican nationals) were registered to vote during the riots, during the Bush administration. Their relatives in Mexico were registered to vote absentee. Illegals were registered to vote in multiple voting places. Chartered busses take them to all the voting places.

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

The sad irony with this comparison is that the only reason whistleblowers exist is precisely because of politicians like Hillary. But I agree...and you don't even have to go that far to making the comparison, look at what happened to General Petraeus over his handling of classified information.

If Hillary Clinton Gets a Pass on Espionage From President Obama, So Should Whistleblowers

Rules are for the little people yall.

Haven't people seen by now ?

Politicians play by a different set of rules than every one else.

originally posted by: TheAmazingYeti

John Kiriakou, former CIA analyst, wrote a great article for truthdig. John is know for his December 10th interview with ABC News about his participation in the capture of Abu Zubaydah and his knowledge about the torture program.

From the passage of the Espionage Act in 1917 until Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009, only three Americans were charged with espionage for revealing classified information publicly. But under Obama, eight Americans have been charged with espionage, including me. All of us were accused of providing classified information to the press, most of us as whistleblowers. None of us was ever accused of giving information to a foreign country. Advertisement

The Obama Justice Department didn’t care in our cases that many of us had gone to the press with evidence of governmental waste, fraud, abuse and illegality. We all faced long prison sentences—long enough that we could have died in prison. Indeed, NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake faced 35 years for blowing the whistle on the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program. The case against him fell apart in the end, and all felony charges were dropped. I faced 45 years after blowing the whistle on the CIA’s torture program. I took a plea to violating the IIPA and served 23 months in a federal prison. Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for providing WikiLeaks with evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq.

All I did was to confirm the name of a former CIA colleague to a reporter. The reporter never made the name public, and there was no harm to the national security. But I still faced up to 10 years in prison just for that revelation. So why should the criterion for Clinton be that nobody died?

I totally agree with John and Hillary should be prosecuted.

I agree but the difference is that Killary is eligible for elite immunity. Strictly for members only. But dont worry, you still have a democracy in America because you can cast of a secret vote at election time, so dont worry.

originally posted by: neo96
Rules are for the little people yall.

I hear what you're saying... and if this known criminal is allowed to ascend to the position of figurehead ruler after what's come out, that message will be loud and clear, writ large across the sky for everyone to see. But as Sublimecraft mentioned, does that make four-star general and former director of the CIA David Petraeus one of those "little people"? Or are those rules only for little people, and occasionally elite conservatives?

If Hillary Clinton isn't prosecuted it gives EVERY individual with a security clearance precedent to have a private server at home to take their work with them no matter the classification.

All they have to do is say "These individuals were not prosecuted NOR was it seen as a crime by the DOJ".

Much like President Obama's magic "pen and phone" precedent has been set for the follow-on residents in the WH and if it's a Republican the left has no reason to complain as they cheered as President Obama set the example.

If she gets a pass on everything like she does get then EVERY dumb thing Trump said should be ignored. Im better than that so actually both should be held accountable. Trump has a terrible alienating way of relaying his thoughts because his mouth is like a stream of competitive consciousness with lots of room for mistakes. Hillary uses a tele and has scrutinized speeches prepared, we all know what she has done and it far surpasses Trumps craziness on a whole different level. Point being, Hillarys crimes are a different type and far more damaging to the world than any shady business deals Trump may have made as well as any dumb comments that he needs to stop making.

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

Thanks for the thread, Vet. Bumped.

The key word in the title is "So Should Whistleblowers".
Those Romulan twins of 'the public safety' and 'national security'
are turning into a pretty threadbare blanket: as opposed to the
overt criminality the Establishment is trying to cover it with.
I really wonder if this is the election cycle America at large sees
its vote not only discounted but meaningless.
The option to prosecuting Hil is tantamount now to proclaimed
elitist anarchy. What rules? They don't have any.. they rule US.

originally posted by: M4nWithNoN4me

originally posted by: neo96
Rules are for the little people yall.

I hear what you're saying... and if this known criminal is allowed to ascend to the position of figurehead ruler after what's come out, that message will be loud and clear, writ large across the sky for everyone to see. But as Sublimecraft mentioned, does that make four-star general and former director of the CIA David Petraeus one of those "little people"? Or are those rules only for little people, and occasionally elite conservatives?

As former Gen. Patreus is a Neocon Camper, no free pass.
They're not the cabal in power this minute. Too bad about
that, his troops all loved him anyway; but their votes don't
get counted either to a large extent...