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Former CIA Analyst Sues Defense Department To Vindicate NSA Whistleblowers (theintercept.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Intercept: In 2010, Thomas Drake, a former senior employee at the National Security Agency, was charged with espionage for speaking to a reporter from the Baltimore Sun about a bloated, dysfunctional intelligence program he believed would violate Americans' privacy. The case against him eventually fell apart, and he pled guilty to a single misdemeanor, but his career in the NSA was over. Though Drake was largely vindicated, the central question he raised about technology and privacy has never been resolved. Almost seven years have passed now, but Pat Eddington, a former CIA analyst, is still trying to prove that Drake was right. While working for Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., Eddington had the unique opportunity to comb through still-classified documents that outline the history of two competing NSA programs known as ThinThread and Trailblazer. He's seen an unredacted version of the Pentagon inspector general's 2004 audit of the NSA's failures during that time, and has filed Freedom of Information Act requests. In January, Eddington decided to take those efforts a step further by suing the Department of Defense to obtain the material, he tells The Intercept. "Those documents completely vindicate" those who advocated for ThinThread at personal risk, says Eddington.
Does that mean he's the only person in the world with standing to bring the suit?
Not exactly the best position to be in, especially when you're up against an organization known for rendition, torture, and assassination.
Given that he saw them using his clearance, I worry about the ramifications of what he might get from FOIA requests and what the outcome for him might be as a result.
Still, it's a damn shame that our last President was so loved while he expanded programs like this garbage, with the media eating it up and ignoring it along the way.
When you pledge to defend the constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that includes government officials.
If it weren't for Whisleblowers, we would have no defense against a government that would secretly and willingly violate the rights of the governed. Whistleblowers put themselves at risk for the very concepts of freedom and liberty.
Those documents completely vindicate" those who advocated for ThinThread at personal risk, says Eddington
Holy shit government engineering projects are contentious! It's like an IBM management meeting but with blood, sweat, tears, guns, cuffs and lawsuits.
They are just lying to you that you don't.
Stand up.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Those who believe in liberty and freedom can't win the way things are. There is only one way that we can overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds. It's by the principled migrating to a single financially sound and diversified region well geared for forming a pro-freedom society. A migration exists already and that has been having a lot of success. All the US states were evaluated for a variety of freedom and prosperity and an ability for migrants to impact change politically in a positive freedom direction. Most are imprisoned at the state and local level so despite federal meddling the majority of good which can be achieved is at a state level- in the short term.
If you look at the libertarian party nationally it's not even libertarian. Principled libertarians don't believe in the use of violence, theft, fraud, and coercion to achieve social and political goals. Nationally its been infiltrated by republicans- who don't even understand the underlying philosophy- look who was put up for president- Garry Johnson is not at all libertarian.
Violence is only acceptable to the extent necessary to defend oneself and ones property. That is the libertarian philosophy. Governments using it to impact social and political change is immoral. Putting up guards on the boarder and deciding who can enter or not is exactly what principled libertarians are against. While many of us wish to improve the circumstances of those less fortunate you shouldn't utilise wealth redistribution schemes (public schools, social security, and most public infrastructure, etc) that are dependent on violence (or threat, theft, etc, ie taxes) to achieve such goals. You should instead open boarders, end public schooling, reduce taxes, and get people innovating and investing again. There is a place for charity and at one time it was normal for 10% of ones income to be donated, but the government has steals so much of it today (greater than 50% for the average household through income taxes and a ton of hidden taxes) even a significant percentage of the poor wouldn't be poor or dependent on foods stamps and various governmental programs should they simply all or mostly all be eliminated.
I find myself wondering whether pushing this during the Trump administration is a bad idea... or whether it's a great idea. On the one hand, we have an executive branch headed by a loose cannon who doesn't think the rules apply to him, and if he should decide that he wants to squash Eddington like a bug he may well be willing to take actions that no previous president (excepting Andrew Jackson, perhaps) would contemplate. If I were Eddington, that would make me think hard before poking my head up to get pounded.
On the other hand Trump's willingness to overreact and to do so with incomplete planning (as evidenced by the botch he made of the immigration order), has put the judiciary in a skeptical state of mind when it comes to anything this administration says. I suspect that judges are a lot less likely to take this administration's word for it when it cries "but National Security!", than they were with Obama, or Bush. And there's also the possibility that Trump may decide that letting this suit go forward will make the previous guys look bad, and that's good enough for him. In contrast, Obama clearly would have fought it, and fought it competently and with the aid of a more sympathetic judiciary.
Or maybe Eddington's timing is completely coincidental. Perhaps he's been working up to this suit for years and finally got the pieces put together and decided to file. But I doubt it. The coincidence is too perfect.
In a lot of ways, I think Trumpism may well be one of the best things to happen to this country, not because I think he'll do so much good, but because he'll provoke us to rethink how much power we have vested in the office of the president. Hopefully Eddington can also exploit this opportunity to crack the wall of secrecy and pattern of whistleblower intimidation that has been established in recent decades.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
But is just proof to any whistleblowers - there is no public support for you.
"Pat Eddington, a former CIA analyst, has been caught with incriminating evidence of a sexual nature on his computer, his smartphone, his tablet, and even his Etch-A-Sketch. He stands accused of molesting elephants and producing highly perverted 'trunk-porn'. Practitioners of the bizarre trunk-porn craze are known to refer to themselves as 'tuskers'.
Officials laid charges including federal racketeering charges, state libel charges, and municipal bylaw infractions. Eddington is also accused of multiple CITES violations.
When asked why law enforcement investigated Eddington to begin with, the communications officials abruptly ended the press conference and left the room."