GAP Statement on the Espionage Charge Filed Against Edward Snowden

[Catherina]

GAP Statement on the Espionage Charge Filed Against Edward Snowden
by Government Accountability Project on June 22, 2013 ( The Whistleblogger / 2013 )


Federal prosecutors have charged National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden with multiple felonies. The charges include espionage, although several prominent lawmakers have questioned the legality of the intelligence-gathering programs revealed by Snowden, and whistleblower protections should shield him from retaliation if his disclosures expose illegal actions. Snowden is the seventh whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act.

The Government Accountability Project (GAP), the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization, which represents two of the whistleblowers charged with Espionage by this administration (NSA whistleblower Tom Drake and CIA/Torture whistleblower John Kiriakou) released the following statement regarding this latest development:

The Obama administration’s charge of espionage against Edward Snowden is not a surprise. This administration has continually sought to intimidate federal employees – particularly intelligence community workers – and suppress any attempt they might make to speak out against gross corruption, wrongdoing, and illegality.

In GAP’s view, Edward Snowden is a whistleblower. He disclosed information about a secret program that he reasonably believed to be illegal, and his actions alone brought about the long-overdue national debate about the proper balance between privacy and civil liberties, on the one hand, and national security on the other. Charging Snowden with espionage is yet another effort to retaliate against those who criticize the overreach of U.S. intelligence agencies under this administration. The charges send a clear message to potential whistleblowers: this is the treatment they can expect should they speak out about constitutional violations.

It is particularly noteworthy that Snowden spoke truthfully to the public about NSA surveillance after Director of National Intelligence James Clapper intentionally lied in his testimony before the U.S. Senate about these same activities. Clapper, however, has not even been admonished for his purposeful, deliberate deception of both the Senate and the public.

It must be emphasized that the channels internal to intelligence agencies for whistleblowers are neither effective nor confidential. Their gross inadequacy is best illustrated by what befell GAP clients and NSA whistleblowers Tom Drake, William Binney and J. Kirk Wiebe, all of whom suffered retaliation after they reported internally serious misconduct at the NSA. Like these three men, Snowden will face serious consequences for exposing the wrongdoing and crimes of others. At the same time, those who stretched their interpretation of laws to invade the private lives of Americans, while lying to the Congress and the public about their actions, will simply continue working.

GAP released a statement on Snowden and the NSA surveillance that can be found here. Media calls regarding this statement can be directed toward GAP President Louis Clark at <redacted> or <redacted>, or GAP Communications Director Dylan Blaylock at <redacted> or <redacted>.


Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.

http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/44-2013/2804-gap-statement-on-the-espionage-charge-filed-against-edward-snowden

[scarletwoman]

1. "The Espionage Act is a foul relic of a foul time, born of the repressive mind of Woodrow Wilson"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=3067489

The OP by Cali quotes a piece by Charles Pierce:

The Espionage Act is a foul relic of a foul time, born of the repressive mind of Woodrow Wilson, American history's most overrated man, employed to quash dissent during World War I, and then repurposed for the Red Scare that followed hard on the Armistice, and it rose again during the subsequent Red Scares after the subsequent world war. As the late Walter Karp recounted in his essential essay, "The America That Was And Is Now Dead," the Espionage Act was a monster at birth and grew more horrible through the decades...

From your OP: Snowden is the seventh whistleblower indicted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act.

Why the hell is the Obama administration so hell-bent on using this disgusting law?

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Why the hell?

I know it's no comfort, but this is the logic of empire. They are getting for the day the peope have had it.

It's also great for...turning people round.

[sabrina 1]

3. How sad, we had so much hope in 2008. And you would think, after failing in so many of their

attacks on Whistle Blowers, such as Drake and Binney, too obviously honorable men who went against their own party and politics to inform the people of wrong doing in their government, that they would learn to stop these prosecutions of the Whistle Blowers and start looking into the charges being made by now, nearly half a dozen people. Not to mention the members of Congress who have expressed extreme concerns, but are gagged from saying more publicly, about what is going on with these programs.

[rhett o rick]

4. There is something that transcends who the president is. There is a power structure that is bigger

than the president. That's why Pres Obama has nominated and appointed the same people that were in power during the previous president. He didnt have a choice.

[sabrina 1]

6. I agree. That is becoming more and more clear every day, and that is something they probably hoped

we never begin to even wonder about. What is obvious is that unless someone is willing to demonstrate that they will not rock the Corporate boat, they will not get close to the WH.

[scarletwoman]

5. Little did we know, back in 2008, that we were electing someone who would turn out to be

singularly dedicated to preserving the status quo of the power structures of the Plutocratic State.

[sabrina 1]

8. Yes, but that is because we had not yet figured out the system that is in place. Maybe it was

necessary to witness this for the people to realize that no American no matter how qualified, is ever going to get to the WH unless they are willing to promise not to upset the status quo.

[scarletwoman]

21. Well, that excuse doesn't wash for me. *I* knew the "System" was in place.

And I thought Obama was intelligent enough to know about it, too. And he was basically promising to work on changing it.

No, I suspect he was a creature of the system from the start, he just talked a good game to get elected.

[sabrina 1]

23. Well, yes, I meant some of us were not aware of how extensive the system was and how much

control there is over who gets elected and who does not. I was beginning to wonder about it. But I agree that Obama probably had long ago proved his corporate bone fides. No one imo, who doesn't do that, will ever have a shot at the WH. Which means that awful reality is that someone or more likely some entities are really running the government now and the politicians are just the face put out there for the public.

[scarletwoman]

26. "awful reality is that someone or more likely some entities are really running the government..."

Honestly, I think it has probably always been this way to some extent since shortly after the ink on the Constitution dried. At the very least, it became clear to me when JFK was assassinated.

Those with money know how to get their way, working quietly in the background. They have only grown more powerful over time, especially since WWII and the rise of the National Security State.

[JaneyVee]

7. Do we have factual proof that the NSA is collecting anything more than metadata without

the use of court ordered warrants?

[sabrina 1]

9. Well, we know they are spying on reporters now. But I'm sure there will be people along to explain

this. I haven't received my re-education yet so I'm still of the opinion that the Government and its agencies have no business spying on reporters and that there are no excuses for it. But then maybe I misunderstood the Constitution and the rights we were told we were so lucky to have in this country. That is a possibility I suppose. I'm told that people get used to living in surveillance states. Maybe so, I haven't been aware of it for long enough to offer an opinion on that.

[JaneyVee]

10. Yes, but did they not receive a warrant first to do so?

[sabrina 1]

12. Well, warrants are not something to hide generally, so if they did we should get to see it. And

a warrant on an American reporter would be very hard to get without absolute proof of probable cause of wrong doing. Since courts rarely rule against the 1st Amendment I would expect that if they did get a warrant they must have been able to show that he was doing or had done something so bad that a court was willing to cross a threshold that it is very rare for them to cross.

So if that happened I would expect to see the warrant before long now that we know they were spying on him. This may finally wake up the excuse for news reporters in our Corporate media and cause them to at least ask why a Reporter was being investigated by the FBI.

[JaneyVee]

16. A warrant on a reporter actually is very hard to get.

For example, the investigation into national security leaks included more than 550 interviews and the review of tens of thousands of documents before the department sought AP records.

[sabrina 1]

18. I agree, and when you read the history of reporters or news organizations

and cases that go all the way to the SC, most rulings come down on the side of the press.

So, the question is, does the FBI need a warrant to conduct an investigation of a Reporter. I don't know the answer to that. But they would have to have a very good excuse. If they were doing it simply because he was digging into a story the government isn't happy about, that would be a classic case of why we have the 1st Amendment in the first place.

[JaneyVee]

20. Wasn't the AP leak about a North Korean nuclear program?

[sabrina 1]

22. Sorry, I was referring to the latest news on Michael Hastings. He had emailed friends hours

before his death to let them know the FBI was questioning his friends. He also said he was working on a big story and needed to go under the radar for a while.

I was wondering why the FBI would be investigating a reporter and do they need a warrant to do so.

Not that familiar with the details of the AP leaks so I do not know the answer to that.

[okaawhatever]

25. Yes it was. I'm getting very frustrated with the press playing the victim. James Rosen was the

reporter who leaked the N Korea story. The intelligence analyst (who was a private contractor btw) didn't come to him. In fact, it appears Rosen dated the man. Unless there's another good reason to end your emails hugs and kisses. Rosen stayed on the phone with him while he accessed the info in his computer. Rosen told him how to hide their communications. Rosen is the one who had the warrant list him as a possible co-conspirator. I read many stories on it, the entire 40 page warrant request, and the emails between them. Rosen was every bit an accomplice and not an innocent reporter. Rosen admitted in his emails he wanted the info to get a head start on his competitors and to "change muddle headed policy." Sorry, that isn't reporting to me, that's being a political hack. If you've seen the story of Sheryl Atkisson who claimed that her computer had been hacked for the last two years, and that she thought it was Obama who did it. Guess what? It appears N Korea had hacked her computer. I say appears, but that was the outcome of the investigation.
Most have no idea about the seven wonderful people the Obama administration "spied on just for doing their jobs" (their words not mine). There's a lot more to it than is reported. Not to mention, the first three were investigated under Bush and charges came shortly after Obama took office. He assigned a new prosecutor, dropped charges on two and eventually withdrew all charges on Drake except a misuse of gov't computer (for which he received a small fine and probation).
The ones who were seriously investigated all have one thing in common: Outing the presence of a spy or double agent.

Enough ranting for one night. There are too many trolls on du these days. Just had to get it off my chest.

[bemildred]

11. Try this:

GCHQ taps fibre-optic cables for secret access to world's communications

Britain's spy agency GCHQ has secretly gained access to the network of cables which carry the world's phone calls and internet traffic and has started to process vast streams of sensitive personal information which it is sharing with its American partner, the National Security Agency (NSA).

The sheer scale of the agency's ambition is reflected in the titles of its two principal components: Mastering the Internet and Global Telecoms Exploitation, aimed at scooping up as much online and telephone traffic as possible. This is all being carried out without any form of public acknowledgement or debate.

One key innovation has been GCHQ's ability to tap into and store huge volumes of data drawn from fibre-optic cables for up to 30 days so that it can be sifted and analysed. That operation, codenamed Tempora, has been running for some 18 months.

GCHQ and the NSA are consequently able to access and process vast quantities of communications between entirely innocent people, as well as targeted suspects.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jun/21/gchq-cables-secret-world-communications-nsa

[JaneyVee]

14. That's Britain, also article doesn't state whether they were or weren't getting warrants for beyond

metadata. Does anyone know?

[bemildred]

15. THAT is the whole world, including the USA, shared with NSA, which is sharing the UK with the UK.

And they are all digging around in it together. See how it works?

[JaneyVee]

17. All that really confirms so far is that the UK is our ally in the "war on terror".

[bemildred]

19. You are not reading what it says. nt

[ProSense]

13. Best part:

In GAP’s view, Edward Snowden is a whistleblower. He disclosed information about a secret program that he reasonably believed to be illegal...

Snowden is not a whistleblower. His beliefs have little to do with it. GAP is trying to redefine whistleblowing. That's like saying anyone who feels like leaking information, even if the program is legal, is a whistleblower.

The ACLU message isn't going to help Snowden.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023069890

[sabrina 1]

24. I'll take the word of real Whistle Blowers who know what they are talking about, like Ellsberg

Binney and Drake, who have all stated that Snowden is a Whistle Blower and in the words of Ellsberg, 'the man we have been waiting for for 40 years'.

Drake, himself a victim of government persecution for years, charged under the same act airc, is an honorable man as most now agree, sees Snowden as a Whistle Blower and necessary considering the extent of the problems he is aware of.

He reported on his own party, and took all the steps required by the Whistle Blower rules. A lot of good it did him he was prosecuted, ruined financially, his honorable career destroyed and then the case was dropped the day before it was to begin. Why? Because he would have been acquitted in a civilian court, and a lot more would have come out during the process which would have been hard to hide. In fact the DOJ lost the motion to suppress some evidence on the 'grounds of National Security'.

Snowden, Manning, Binney, Drake and it appears there will be more as the problem gets worse and our government refuses to prosecute the criminals and goes after the Whislte Blowers instead.

[ProSense]

27. Well,

"Binney and Drake, who have all stated that Snowden is a Whistle Blower and in the words of Ellsberg, 'the man we have been waiting for for 40 years'. "

...Binney also stated this:

NSA veteran: "So he is transitioning from whistle-blower to a traitor."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023035550

Snowden spy row grows as US is accused of hacking China
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023068908

[Thinkingabout]

28. GAP also did not point out NSA personnel are excluded from the Whistleblower Act, how convenient.

I have been seeing post trying to re-write the Fourth Amendment, that wont happen in the next week or so. I don't think all the information has been revealed and what is behind all this mud but I think it will start to mature before long. like your post.

[hueymahl]

30. So now GAP and the ACLU are wrong?

I know I am new her, but good god - is there anyone that could get you off message?

[nolabels]

29. Whoever those people posting above are, they sure don't sound like they belong in this thread

I remember ten years ago this place was where you could vent your concerns, now it seems more like a place you ally fears as being true

[blkmusclmachine]

31. And the bansters skate, with golden parachutes, and not even a slap on the wrist.

Too Big To Jail