In my many recent diaries on the retaliatory prosecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, many have suggested that Drake
will have his day in court, and he should let the jury decide at trial if he committed a crime.
These often flippant remarks fail to recognize the years of investigation that precede a criminal indictment, during which the whistleblower must pay attorneys to defend himself. Those costs were so exorbitant for Drake that he is currently being represented by the public defender's office because he qualifies as indigent.
This is not a plea for a legal defense fund. Drake doesn't have one. All he needs is your support. Please support him by signing this petition demanding accountability for the Justice Department's malicious and selective prosecution of whistleblower Drake.
When a criminal defendant is a courageous whistleblower being subjected to a retaliatory and selective investigation and prosecution, the high financial cost of defending oneself, before and after trial, becomes part of the price of whistleblowing.
I know the monetary cost of whistleblowing all too well. As a whistleblower who became the target of a federal criminal "leak investigation" (not to find out who destroyed documents in the "American Taliban" case, but rather to find out who exposed it), I spent tens of thousands on attorneys' fees and took out a second mortgage on my home to pay the bills. And, the retaliatory investigation targeting me did not go nearly as far as the prosecution of Drake. I never got indicted.
Drake's house was first raided in November 2007. He wasn't indicted until April 2010. During the intervening years, the FBI and the Justice Department relentlessly pursued the case against him, and Drake hired a private attorney after realizing the his voluntary cooperation with the government was only going to lead to him getting charged.
The estimated cost for a private attorney to defend Drake at a criminal trial is over $1 million.
Going to trial is an extraordinarily expensive prospect for a criminal defendant. Hence, Drake is being represented by the public defender.
The attacks on whistleblowers can be expensive for journalists as well. Rumor has it that the recent subpoena for former New York Times reporter and author Jim Risen focuses on the one chapter in his book, State of War, that was not also the subject of Risen's New York Times articles. Meaning, Risen must pay to fight the subpoena himself instead of using the Times' legal team. Preserving our First Amendment rights should not be so expensive.
After sacrificing his career and thousands of dollars in attorney's fees, Drake now faces sacrificing his very liberty because he blew the whistle on multi-billion dollar waste and illegality at the National Security Agency (NSA).
In addition to signing the petition supporting Drake, you can "like" the Save Tom Drake Facebook Page.