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<p><big>Snowden is the eighth person to be charged under the
Espionage Act under Obama (<strong>CLARIFICATION [6/23]: </strong>for
leaking). This is more than all previous presidential
administrations combined.</big></p>
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<p><big>NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake was <a
href="http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news-media-law/news-media-and-law-winter-2013/six-federal-employees-charg">charged</a> under
the law in April 2010 for retaining classified information on
secret surveillance programs. The government claimed it was for
the purpose of disclosure.</big></p>
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<p><big>For disclosing classified information on FBI wiretaps to a
blogger, FBI translator named Shamai Leibowitz was <a
href="http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news-media-law/news-media-and-law-winter-2013/six-federal-employees-charg">charged</a>
under the Espionage Act.</big></p>
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<p><big>Pfc. Bradley Manning was charged with multiple violations of
the Espionage Act in July 2010 after disclosing US government
information to WikiLeaks.</big></p>
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<p><big>Stephen Kim, a former State Department contractor, was <a
href="http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news-media-law/news-media-and-law-winter-2013/six-federal-employees-charg">charged</a>
in August 2010 for revealing classified information on North
Korea to Fox News reporter James Rosen. (Rosen was labeled an
“aider, abettor and co-conspirator” in the leak.)</big></p>
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<p><big>In December 2010, a former CIA officer, Jeffrey Sterling,
was <a
href="http://www.rcfp.org/browse-media-law-resources/news-media-law/news-media-and-law-winter-2013/six-federal-employees-charg">charged</a>
under the Espionage Act after he communicated with <em>New York
Times </em>reporter James Risen about Iran’s nuclear program
in the 1990s. (The Obama Justice Department has fought in the
courts to have a judge require Risen to testify against
Sterling.)</big></p>
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<p><big>John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, was charged under the
Espionage Act in January 2012 <a
href="http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2012/04/06/obamas-war-on-whistleblowing-ex-cia-agent-indicted-under-espionage-act/">after
he shared information</a> related to a rendition operation
with reporter Matthew Cole.</big></p>
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<p><big>A <a
href="http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/03/11/navy-linguist-faces-additional-charge-of-violating-espionage-act/">much
lesser-known individual</a>, James Hitselberger, a former Navy
linguist, was charged with violating the Espionage Act for
providing classified documents to the Hoover Institution at
Stanford University.</big></p>
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<p><big>The Espionage Act charges were dropped in the cases of
Drake, Kiriakou and Leibowitz. Manning has pled guilty to lesser
offenses but not the espionage charges. Hitselberger, Kim and
Sterling’s cases are all still pending. [Kiriakou's serving a
30-month sentence in a prison in Loretto, Pennsylvania, after
pleading guilty to violation of the Intelligence Identities
Protection Act.]</big></p>
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<p><big>Kiriakou’s case went through the Eastern District of
Virginia. Sterling’s case is pending in the same jurisdiction.</big></p>
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<p><big>“The Eastern District of Virginia is the most conservative
court in the country,” according to Jesselyn Radack, a director
of the Government Accountability Project’s national security and
human rights division who has defended national security
whistleblowers. “My experience with espionage cases there is
that, even if you get assigned a progressive judge, the deck is
still stacked against you.”</big></p>
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<p><big>This jurisdiction is also where a grand jury investigation
into WikiLeaks has been <a
href="http://www.thenation.com/article/174933/court-documents-reveal-extent-federal-investigation-wikileaks#axzz2WtvdQeIx">empaneled</a>.
The investigation has been broad and, as Sam Knight reported for
<em>The Nation</em>, it has used “subpoena powers rarely wielded
against bloggers and journalists.”</big></p>
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<p><big>The Espionage Act is a law from 1917 that was intended to
criminalize individuals who engaged in spying, not leakers or
whistleblowers. It was not initially used to prosecute
government employees who passed on information to a reporter or
a media organization. But, under Obama, the Justice Department
has exercised wide discretion and interpreted the law as one
that can be used to criminalize government employees who blow
the whistle on corruption or share information on operations,
policies or programs with the press. They have used to prosecute
them as if they are “insiders,” “informers,” or “spies.”</big></p>
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<p><big>President Barack Obama came into office committed to
“protecting” whistleblowers.</big></p>
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<blockquote>
<div class="wbq">
<p><big>Often the best source of information about waste, fraud,
and abuse in government is an existing government employee
committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such
acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save
lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged
rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as
watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack
Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal
workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in
government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite
the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and
whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.</big></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
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<p><big>However, when Congress passed the Whistleblower Protection
Enhancement Act, the White House coordinated with Congress so
that employees at national security or intelligence agencies
would not be covered. That means, when Obama had the opportunity
to make it easier for employees to go through proper channels
when exposing corruption or wrongdoing, he did the exact
opposite.</big></p>
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