I was just on BBC World News discussing WikiLeaks, Thomas Drake, and the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA). It is sheer hypocrisy for the U.S. to scream bloody murder about WikiLeaks (calling for the execution of Julian Assange) without giving employees a safe alternative to anonymous leaks.
Recent revelations from the ACLU that, despite being given an unprecedented blank check to collect data, the NSA is still thwarting regulations and over-collecting only underscore the importance of protecting whistleblowers. As of now, Drake, who went through proper channels to blow the whistle on NSA's privacy-shredding data collection debacles, has been indicted under the Espionage Act.
It's rank hypocrisy when going through the proper channels as Drake did, sticks you in the same position the Justice Department is looking to put Julian Assange in: indicted under the Espionage Act.
When Thomas Drake saw the NSA was embarking on a wasteful multi-billion dollar data collection boondoggle that violated Americans' privacy rights--especially when there was a cheaper, effective, constitutional alternative--Drake, being what the mainstream media has dubbed a "classic whistle-blower," reported the waste of taxpayer money through all the proper channels: to his bosses, the Inspectors General, and to the Congressional Intelligence Committees. The thanks Drake received was a criminal indictment.
Meanwhile, the problems like the one Drake blew the whistle on continue unabated within the NSA. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008 afforded the NSA vast and unprecedented powers to collect information, making legal programs that were previously considered a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment. But, even with hugely-expanded power, the NSA continues to skirt legal requirements:
. . . semiannual internal oversight reports by the offices of the attorney general and director of national intelligence identify ongoing breaches of legal requirements that limit when Americans are targeted and minimize the amount of data collected.
It is unlikely that any more NSA whistleblowers will come forward without protection from laws like the WPEA since Drake's reward for blowing the whistle on NSA malfeasance was a criminal indictment under the Espionage Act, the same law the Justice Department is contemplating using against WikiLeaks founder Juilian Assange. It doesn't matter if whistleblowers choose to go through proper channels or choose to leak anonymously, because both courses of action seem to get you an Espionage Act prosecution. Whistleblowers are damned if they go through proper channels like Drake, and damned if the leak anonymously.
And, with whistleblowers like Drake who go through proper channels being subject to criminal prosecutions, it is no wonder whistleblowers turn to anonymous leaking via WikiLeaks. If the U.S. really cared about stopping WikiLeaks, it would give whistleblowers a viable alternative and pass the WPEA.
To support passage of the WPEA click here.
To support Thomas Drake, please sign the petition to drop his retaliatory prosecution or "like" the Save Tom Drake Facebook Page.