Forget Comey and McCabe. Support FBI whistleblower Terry Albury
FOR THE PAST THREE WEEKS, two former FBI officials—Andrew McCabe and James Comey—have received wall-to-wall media coverage and substantial monetary support from people across the United States in the form of donations and books sales following their feuds with President Trump. But it’s a third former FBI official, unknown to virtually anyone—Terry Albury—who faces actual jail time from the Trump Justice Department and is far more deserving of the support of journalists everywhere.
A few weeks ago, Albury, a former FBI special agent based out of Minnesota, became the second person the Trump administration—after Reality Winner—prosecuted for allegedly leaking documents to the media. Critically, one of the documents he is assumed to have leaked directly impacts journalists’ rights and press freedom.
Today, Albury pled guilty in federal court to two counts under the Espionage Act, the World War I–era statute originally written to prosecute spies, which has been warped in recent years to allow the US government to imprison whistleblowers and sources to the press without giving them an opportunity to present a public interest defense.
Albury’s attorneys released a statement to CJR just after the court hearing today, which reads, in part:
Terry Albury is a good and honorable man. His conduct in this case was an act of conscience. It was driven by his belief that there was no viable alternative to remedy the abuses he sought to address. He recognizes that what he did was unlawful and accepts full responsibility for his conduct, which he has demonstrated by reaching an agreement with the government to plead guilty.
Link to Columbia Journalism Review
https://www.cjr.org/watchdog/terry-albury.php