U.S. v. Whistleblower Tom Drake

U.S. v. Whistleblower Tom Drake

www.cbsnews.com

Tom Drake, a former NSA senior executive indicted last year for espionage after leaking to the media allegations that the nation's largest intelligence organization had committed fraud, waste and abuse will appear in his first television interview.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Now this story rings some serious bells about the supposed Obama administration intent of being "friendly" to whistleblowers.

NOT.

Here NSA executive level employee Tom Drake with a long stellar record decided to turn the tables on the government by spilling the beans to intelligence committees on Capitol Hill, but to no avail. Once he did everything by the book and became extremely frustrated by lack of action, he began giving unclassified info to a reporter who started breaking stories on the issues.

At no time did he feed her classified info, and yet he is being charged under the Espionage Act, and is facing up to life in prison.

This CBS 60 Minutes interview is excellent, and describes how Tom Drake tried all the proper legal channels to expose the corruption, failure, and mismanagement of the NSA at the highest levels, and what happened? He and several others got their homes raided by the FBI.

The continuing conspiracy to keep government operating over and above the laws granted to the federal government by the Constitution know no boundaries. Mess with the big boys and you are toast.

This story contains elements relative to 9/11, warrantless wiretapping, supercomputers, and more. Perfect ATS material!

www.cbsnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by TrueAmerican


Well Obama promised transparency and he can see through the bars of his prison cell.

But seriously, who's going to stop this crap?
When are people going to say enough is enough??

reply to post by backinblack


You tell me and we'll both know.

You see in the video where the expert attorney on espionage laws said "you are granted the security clearance on the basis of your promise not to tell, so it's not up to you to decide when the government is up to no good" ? (Or something close to that).

I dunno man, this just made me sick all over again watching all those spy computers at the NSA in this video. They are recording the entire fricken world. Every conversation, every last drop. And can't analyze it all, cause it's too much data. NO ONE should have that power EVER EVER EVER in the future history of man. And us fools only have ourselves to blame for letting it happen.

Sorry we let you down, Jefferson. It's over. America is over. It's only Amerika from here on out.

This is why you always release your information anonymously. The information is worth more than your publicity. The message has more power than the messenger:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

If this agent was doing to to spread truth but slipped up that is his fault. If he was doing it for fame, well that is the wrong reason to spread truth.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
This is why you always release your information anonymously.

Yeah, but whistleblowers shouldn't have to. Remember that good deeds get done in sunlight, and a lot of sun shines on this land.

So now the old plot becomes clear: Install Obama with a new promise of being friendly to whistleblowers, making them feel all warm and fuzzy, ready to talk. Basically just another psyop move by TPTB to further seal the lips of the sinking ship. And crush those who dare do the right thing and try to expose them out in the open.

I guess whatever is coming next will require only the absolutely loyal that have the toughest stomachs for death and destruction of their own. Because they are culling their herd and weeding out the true patriots of this country who wish only good on the public. 9/11 was just a warmup party. Betcha.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
This is why you always release your information anonymously. The information is worth more than your publicity. The message has more power than the messenger:
www.abovetopsecret.com...
If this agent was doing to to spread truth but slipped up that is his fault. If he was doing it for fame, well that is the wrong reason to spread truth.

But we know how anonymous sources are treated..
Whistle blowers SHOULD be protected IMO..

reply to post by backinblack


If you want a reliable anonymous source you can use something called Digital signatures. When sending documents only the signer of the document can have that digital signature. It provides three things:

Authenticity - the message was created/sent by the sender and not someone else
Integrity - the message has not been tampered with
Non-repudiation - the message was not sent by anyone but you and you can not deny it in the future should you release your identity.

When an anonymous sources attaches their digital signature to a released document and it is true, it gains credibility. Doing more releases of more information only gains their credibility.

No one can tamper with their information release, or try to frame them with false information. Saying it was released from the source when it was in fact not or other tricks that they may do. Digital signatures provide a great tool for the anonymous leaker.

You can't fight corruption at these levels, he went public, and will be made an example of in public.

This isn't about him, it is about anyone within the agencies thinking about coming forward with similar information.

He should have anonymously leaked things to the media, on the internet etc... But that is risky, doing that anonymously means that he could have been dealt with anonymously... In the most severe ways possible.

Best thing people like this can do is to keep quiet, unless they have nothing to lose.

Sad bud the truth is stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

On the one hand getting security clearance means you vow to hold secret that which the government deems sensitive -- in the sense of having potential to hurt the government should it get in the wrong hands -- a fine thing to uphold when the government is the fairy-tale good variety.

Unfortunately we all know the real government is not always so good, or should I say rarely is it so good. In this real situation, upholding secrets is likely to mean protecting bad government, bad employees, bad programs such as we have seen in this video.

Should the oath to secrecy really be the omnipotent thing it appears to be, or should it not be subservient to things like the oath to the constitution, or morality, or what is good for the people, as opposed to the government bureaucracy?

Hey, did any of you ever tell on a bully as a kid? Because you were told "the grown ups" would take care of it?

Well, what happened? Did that bully ever get back at you for telling?

;-)


I don't think a lot of people mature. Wherever they are.

I think this man is highly honorable.

He fights for what he believes in and is willing to pay for all the good he is trying to accomplish.
He is charged of espionage and he is saying right at the end of the video, he is charged with something so bad that they want to scare future whistleblowers.

But we all have a hero inside that wants to fight for justice and liberty, if death or prison is the penalty for being a hero, well then, so be it.

The day the hero in all of us will wake up, things will change. Never let greed. money or selfishness become your kryptonite.

Superman recently said, ''Truth, justice and the American way, it's just not enough anymore.''

I say, ''Truth, justice and the American way, it just doesn't exist anymore. Did it it ever exist at all, or was it just a farytail?''

This is pretty informative. Maybe we will get to see some light shed on the supercomputers housed in NSA facilities. The only other source for NSA related information I know of is James Bamford who wrote "The Shadow Factory."

would be nice to see some people waving flags and holding signs for Mr Drake. I didnt know this case was approaching so soon

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I watched that yesterday and I agree it was well done. Just facts and well presented. It seems 60 Minutes is trying to return to what it once was. I find that as important as the story. I hope we see more reporting like this and less and less reporting from Journalists in the politicians hip pockets.

On the other hand, it exposed that the volume of information has exceeded what they can now monitor which is in a way good news.

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
This is why you always release your information anonymously. The information is worth more than your publicity. The message has more power than the messenger:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

If this agent was doing to to spread truth but slipped up that is his fault. If he was doing it for fame, well that is the wrong reason to spread truth.

Actually some whistleblowers make their name public in order to protect themselves, based on the fact that there will be a bigger outcry if they are killed by the government assassins.

Nice to see rawstory has picked this up now:

Thomas Drake worked for the National Security Agency before he was indicted by it. Drake felt that taxpayer money was being misused on unnecessary intelligence, not the information that would lead to the successful capture of terrorists.

While the government says he betrayed his country, Drake, facing 35 years in prison if convicted, says he only pointed out government mismanagement. Drake was imprisoned under the Espionage Act of 1917.

“The entire national security establishment – it was a failure, a fundamental systemic breakdown,” Drake told “60 Minutes”‘ Scott Pelley in his first televised interview.

Watch the full interview below, which originally aired on “60 Minutes” on May 22, 2011, embedded courtesy of CBS.

www.rawstory.com...

Watching a replay of the 60Minutes interview, now.

[Amazing - operation "thin thread" had to be delayed]

reply to post by SquirrelNutz


Yeah thanks for bringing this thread back up. Seems like you found it elsewhere, then searched here, and found it?

An ATS member that uses the search function, imagine that!

And btw, it does seem like the new search works better than before.