Another Whistleblower Indicted: More Prosecuted Now than Under Bush:

[amborin]

Obama Takes a Hard Line Against Leaks to Press

Hired in 2001 by the National Security Agency to help it catch up with the e-mail and cellphone revolution, Thomas A. Drake became convinced that the government’s eavesdroppers were squandering hundreds of millions of dollars on failed programs while ignoring a promising alternative.
He took his concerns everywhere inside the secret world: to his bosses, to the agency’s inspector general, to the Defense Department’s inspector general and to the Congressional intelligence committees. But he felt his message was not getting through.
So he contacted a reporter for The Baltimore Sun.
Today, because of that decision, Mr. Drake, 53, a veteran intelligence bureaucrat who collected early computers, faces years in prison on 10 felony charges involving the mishandling of classified information and obstruction of justice.
The indictment of Mr. Drake was the latest evidence that the Obama administration is proving more aggressive than the Bush administration in seeking to punish unauthorized leaks.

snip

In 17 months in office, President Obama has already outdone every previous president in pursuing leak prosecutions. His administration has taken actions that might have provoked sharp political criticism for his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was often in public fights with the press.
Mr. Drake was charged in April; in May, an F.B.I. translator was sentenced to 20 months in prison for providing classified documents to a blogger; this week, the Pentagon confirmed the arrest of a 22-year-old Army intelligence analyst suspected of passing a classified video of an American military helicopter shooting Baghdad civilians to the Web site Wikileaks.org.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has renewed a subpoena in a case involving an alleged leak of classified information on a bungled attempt to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program that was described in “State of War,” a 2006 book by James Risen. The author is a reporter for The New York Times. And several press disclosures since Mr. Obama took office have been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, officials said, though it is uncertain whether they will result in criminal cases.

snip


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/us/politics/12leak.html?ref=us

[aquart]

1. Any prosecutions on the crimes they leaked?

But don't be too hard on Bush, IIRC most of the leaks in his admin were orchestrated by his admin.

[jgraz]

9. Hey, that's looking backward. We need to look forward.

Unless, of course, we're prosecuting someone who leaks embarrassing information...

[ProSense]

2. Good!

Under President Bush, no one was convicted for disclosing secrets directly to the press. But Lawrence A. Franklin, a Defense Department official, served 10 months of home detention for sharing classified information with officials of a pro-Israel lobbying group, and I. Lewis Libby Jr., a top aide to Mr. Cheney, was convicted of perjury for lying about his statements to journalists about an undercover C.I.A. officer, Valerie Plame Wilson.

Will this stop the President's critics from comparing him to Bush? Will they pine for the good old days of Bush?

[EFerrari]

3. When Obama continues and even amplifies BushCo policies

he brings the comparisons on himself. I'd be very happy never to have to make that comparison again but I need a little cooperation from the WH.

/typo

[ProSense]

4. Where's the full picture?

Health Care Bill Enhances Whistleblower Protections

As part of the anti-fraud provisions of the health care legislation passed yesterday, Congress strengthened the False Claims Act - one of the most effective whistleblower laws in the United States - in order to ensure that whistleblowers can expose fraud under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Lindsey Williams, Advocacy Director at the National Whistleblowers Center, explained the whistleblower provisions incorporated into the health care law: "The bill directly addresses the right of whistleblowers to obtain protection under the False Claims Act. A number of courts had significantly narrowed the interpretation of 'whistleblower' under the law, resulting in a chilling effect on employees' willingness to risk their careers to expose fraud against the taxpayers. The health care legislation passed by Congress contains a much-needed provision correcting these narrow, anti-whistleblower rulings."

The legislation also ensures that the False Claims Act anti-fraud provisions will apply to the "exchanges" established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act if they use federal funds. Additionally, the False Claims Act is strengthened regarding failure to return overpayments and includes greater anti-kickback provisions.

"Regardless of where you stood on the health care debate, this is a major step forward for fraud prevention and ensures that whistleblowers, who risk their careers to expose fraud in the new health care system and by large pharmaceutical companies, won't have their cases maliciously thrown out of court," added Ms. Williams.

There are the reports of more prosecutions. How hard is that to determine when Bush prosecuted no one. Not every leaker is a whistleblower, and as in one case, the whistleblower seemed more like a con man who obstructed justice.

[katandmoon]

5. Great. Now where is the law protecting whistleblowers who expose GOVERNMENT crime?

[amborin]

19. cracking down on Drake, as one example, is NOT good! all to quash embarrassing info for the gov't

[uponit7771]

8. Nope, the people who dislike Obama are looking for anything despite the facts

[amborin]

20. it's not like or dislike of the *person*; it's the policies that matter

[amborin]

18. the lack of transparency is NOT good!

[The Doctor.]

6. So it should be OK to leak classified information?

Not everyone who leaks information is a 'whistle-blower'.

I agree that no one should be prosecuted for exposing illegal activity, but doesn't that determination need to be made rather than simply assuming that every leaker is a whistle-blower?

[amborin]

21. sometimes it's crucial; like the ATT workers who revealed the telephone wiretapping program

[The Doctor.]

30. That was an illegal program. I made that distinction in my post.

Sorry if it wasn't clear enough.

So, it's "sometimes crucial". Sure. How about when it's not?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. Transparancy jin government. Check.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[TexasObserver]

10. It is shameful.

FAIL.

[Bluebear]

11. Obama Takes a Hard Line Against Leaks to Press; Against Torturers, Not So Much.

[USArmyParatrooper]

12. Here's an interesting "did you know"

Disclosing classified information is illegal. It is a crime.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Especially if it embarrasses the politicians or generals.

The Pentagon got really, really, upset when that leaked video showed them murdering reporters.

[USArmyParatrooper]

15. You mean the video

of the reporters hanging out with guys carrying AK-47's and RPGs?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. I mean the video where they gunned down reporters and civilians without cause.

[USArmyParatrooper]

27. The RPG's alone = cause

And we're likely never going to agree on the issue of that video, but either way disclosing classified information is a serious crime. Everyone who has access to it goes through a background investigation for a special clearance just be granted access. Everyone with access knows it's a crime to disclose it. There is no ambiguity about this at all.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

28. Sometimes morality & ethics overrides the rules.

You're right about the video. Fortunately, when I was (briefly) in military intelligence I didn't get past a confidential clearance and so was never tempted to put it to the test.

[USArmyParatrooper]

29. It's not just about rules

It's about the law. Also, whether you agree with me about the video or not there are actually valid reasons for that video to be classified. There is a plethora of useful information in the video to use against US forces. Even as an infantry guy we receive briefs about posting (seemingly) harmless still photos on blogs and websites, and the different ways they can use what's shown in various photographs.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. I don't buy it.

The reason that the video, and now Wikileaks, is being decried by the Pentagon, isn't about protecting the troops, but about the embarrassment of what the video contained and the likely embarrassment of what new "leaks" might contain.

Incidents like what occurred in the video are harmful, not to the GI's fighting and dying in the 2 lost wars, but to the "war effort" the politicians and generals trumpet.

During Vietnam, when we were disrupting classes to end that FUBAR, one of the profs said, "The war will end when enough bodies come home and the average American has to reach for his wallet to pay for it." He was right then, and he's still right. Every little bit helps to turn the public against the needless killing.

[USArmyParatrooper]

33. What exactly don't you buy?

Are you actually disputing that there is information in that video that is useful to those trying to kill Americans?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Like what?

The ever so concerned Pentagon released hundreds, if not thousands, of similar videos from the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan when showing their "victories". The video that's been shown, thanks to Wikileaks, shows a bunch of people being killed some whooping GI's. Other than extrapolating that the video is going to piss off a lot people enough to shoot at GI's, no I don't believe that it shows anything that's a breach of security.

They're a helluva lot more concerned by the possible effects of showing another My Lai than about the safety of the average grunt.

[USArmyParatrooper]

35. Do you have an example

of just ONE of these hundreds or thousands of similar videos released by the pentagon?

So we're briefed to be very, very careful with even still shots from around the FOB, but showing an internal, 15 minute video that includes audio and video footage of different elements working together is useless? I can name several things things that are useful just off the top of my head and probably more if I go back and look at the video again. If I do will you concede or just try form arguments against anything I say?

What "they" are you referring to that is unconcerned about the safety of an average grunt?

[branders seine]

13. Obama is not a very good president,

is he?

He's kind of like bush in some ways, isn't he?

[USArmyParatrooper]

16. Sure he is

I heard they both like icecream.

[Octafish]

22. The guy who named the UBS Tax Cheats is in jail.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/15/ubs

That must've been supposed to send some kind of message.

[amborin]

24. the tax evading elites now have no more fear in that regard, their Swiss acts are safe!

[ProSense]

23. State Department assessing damage from cables leak

State Department assessing damage from cables leak

WASHINGTON – The State Department says it is studying the computer hard drives used by an Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, trying to assess the potential damage if allegations are true that the analyst leaked tens of thousands of classified diplomatic documents to a whistle-blower website.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Friday that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security is assisting in the forensic analysis of the data stored on one or more hard drives from computers believed to have been used by Army Spc. Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md.

Manning, who has not been charged with any crime, is being detained in Kuwait pending an Army criminal investigation of unauthorized leaks of classified information.

"We take this seriously," Crowley said. "Any release of classified material to those who are not entitled to have it is a serious breach of our security and, you know, can cause potential damage to our national security interests."

more

[amborin]

26. "our national security interests" where have i heard that mantra before?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

32. Translation: We need to cover our asses before the public finds out what we're really doing.

[Octafish]

25. The QWEST CEO didn't go along with illegal domestic spying and he's in jail.

Joseph Nacchio of Qwest Communications refused to go along -- six months BEFORE Sept. 11, 2001. So, he got the treatment.

Former CEO Says U.S. Punished Phone Firm

Weird, huh?