First and foremost, an understanding of what a whistleblower is will be critical. On the most basic level, a whistleblower is a person that exposes fraud, abuse, corruption, or dangers to public health and safety. This can be exposed to a superior, a government official, the public, or essentially anyone who has the power to change the wrongdoing. Under US law, whistleblowers do have some protections. However, these protections exist at all different levels and have various definitions and procedures. Because of this, many whistleblowers don’t actually get the level of protection they often anticipate, and can often be retaliated against for blowing the whistle.
In this article, we’re going to be analyzing one of the more prolific whistleblowers in recent US history: Thomas Drake. After a signals intelligence career in the Air Force, and then later as a contractor for intelligence agencies, Thomas Drake joined the NSA as a senior official for SIGINT. After sharing unclassified information about the NSA with a journalist, Drake had his house raided by the FBI in 2007 due to an unrelated leak to the New York Times. They took computers, books, and documents. He was questioned about the New York Times leak, to which he responded that he was not the source. He went on to say he had given unclassified information to the Baltimore Sun. Despite initially cooperating with federal agents, Drake soon realized they intended to incriminate him and use him as an example, and resigned from the NSA. In April 2010, a federal indictment was issued, citing the Espionage Act, claiming he took documents he should not have had. Soon after, however, the government suddenly withdrew evidence, and dropped the charges against Drake. In this article, I first intend to explain why Drake’s leak happened, then analyze the implications it had for national security, before finally giving my personal opinion about the leak.
What was the leak?
It’s crucial to understand what it was that Drake leaked, why he leaked it, and what his leak means. Because of the shock of 9/11, intelligence agencies had revamped and revitalized their efforts to collect and analyze information. This led to an NSA program called Trailblazer, which had the ability to sift through massive amounts of information, and disregarded a US citizen’s right to privacy by monitoring their communications without a federal warrant. Concerned about the privacy violations, Drake spoke to his boss, then later the NSA Inspector General; however, his voice seemed to fall upon deaf ears. As a result, Drake turned to reporter Siobhan Gorman, who wrote articles about the NSA focused on waste and fraud in 2006 and 2007. Around the same time, a leak to the New York Times about the Trailblazer program was discovered, and Drake, having complained previously, was an immediate suspect. This led to the FBI raid, the indictment, and ultimately Drake’s story being told. Fundamentally, Drake became a whistleblower because he cared about protecting the rights of US citizens. Concerned about the disregard for legality and abuses of power, Drake shared information the government wanted kept secret. The key reason that Drake’s case is so powerful is because it pushes the boundaries of intelligence agencies’ power. Drake’s leak poses the crucial question of if the expanding capabilities of expanding intelligence agencies’ bureaucracies are beyond meaningful accountability.
Societal and Security Implications
When examining the implications of Drake’s leak, we also need to consider the way his actions have affected society and security. This case questions if pure intent matters to a government focused on collecting and hiding valuable information that affects American citizens. Had Drake not revealed what he knew, millions of Americans would have never been informed that their personal information was being collected and stored illegally. This case deals with more than the fundamental right to privacy afforded to every American, it deals with the power the NSA had to illegally act and escape consequences. The fact that people responded by supporting Drake demonstrates that the majority of Americans are not okay with what the NSA was doing. Both the collection of personal data and the fact that the collection was done illegally proves that the NSA had stepped over the ethical and legal lines. And altogether, Drake’s actions were not a threat to national security. Depending on how one defines national security, we can examine how Drake’s leaks impacted them. One definition could be the security and defense of a sovereign nation. In this sense, Drake’s leak did not share any classified information or information about Americans or government institutions that a potential adversary could use against the United States. A second, and certainly less common definition, could characterize national security as the security of the people of a nation. From this perspective, national security was most certainly not harmed, and almost certainly helped. Previously, the NSA had been able to seize and store personal data of Americans sans warrant, without repercussions. This led to a lot of information being reviewed without permission, taking away the rights and security of millions of Americans. Post-leak, however, Americans were made aware of the situation, which led to calls for change. More warrants were needed to continue their domestic surveillance, and the NSA altered its aggressive, unnecessary, and illegal course of action.
Opinion
Personally, I agree with Thomas Drake and what he did. He never revealed classified information or intentionally retained a classified document. Nothing he did should have been illegal, and there never should have been a potential case for prosecution. Instead, his actions revealed incompetence, mismanagement, and illegal action taking place inside one of the most powerful agencies in our country, and arguably the world. By blowing the whistle on the NSA and its illegal surveillance, waste, and fraud, Drake created the transparency that was apparently necessary for the NSA to abide by the law, and to protect the rights of Americans. In a country where we champion the rights of the people, it’s ironic and twisted that those same rights can be taken away by those in power, without the public even knowing. Americans put trust in the government to protect them and be held liable for their actions. Without this fundamental system, an ethical, responsible society will never exist. This case is about more than classified information or leaks. It’s about power, and what those who have it can do. It’s about people’s rights and the responsibility to protect them. It’s about security and reputability for everyone.
Bibliography
Mayer, J., 2011. Thomas Drake vs. the N.S.A.. [online] The New Yorker. Available at: <https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/05/23/the-secret-sharer> [Accessed 16 August 2022].
Wise, D., 2011. Leaks and the Law: The Story of Thomas Drake. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/leaks-and-the-law-the-story-of-thomas-drake-14796786/> [Accessed 12 August 2022]
What is a whistleblower (2021) National Whistleblower Center. National Whistleblower Center. Available at: https://www.whistleblowers.org/what-is-a-whistleblower/ (Accessed: December 28, 2022).