
The CIA Burglar Who Went Rogue - georgecmu
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-CIA-Burglar-Who-Went-Rogue-169800816.html?c=y&story=fullstory
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ovi256
As soon as I read about him sending anonymous letters to foreign governments,
divulging details of confidential operations, I thought "what is he thinking,
indictment for treason in 3, 2, 1". He really should have known better,
especially given his experience serving in the Army, law enforcement, and then
the CIA.

In the end, it was not surprising at all that the feds came down on him like a
ton of bricks. It was surprising that he got a plea deal for a lesser
sentence.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
I was amazed he was able to push as hard as he was before the hammer came
down.

Seriously. Being a whistle-blower is one thing. Being a rogue canon playing
fast and loose with national security so you can negotiate a better pension
settlement is something else entirely.

~~~
rdtsc
I think what he did could have passed had he not made it official by writing
letters and sending them. I think he could have conveyed all this orally in an
ambiguous enough way.

The reason is that once this becomes official enough and "on the books" this
kind of stuff would happen again. The real nightmare is not him doing it and
getting way is every disgruntled agency employee doing it and then pointing
fingers at this case saying "but you negotiated with him!".

So I think he wasn't smart enough, he could have had a chance at this had he
not stirred the waters that much.

Another, general way of putting it, is that in large bureaucratic institutions
(officially!) you never put your superiors in a position to make a new rule or
break an existing rule.

~~~
Herring
His problems started earlier, I think. A red flag came up when I saw that he
ticketed the fire chief (and got fired for his trouble). Then later he kept
escalating some issue above his superiors, despite being warned that his
career was on the line. The guy just doesn't know his place.

~~~
smutticus
Last time I checked this was Hacker News. One of the commonly accepted
meanings of 'hacker' is someone who challenges the existing order and power
structures. You won't find many friends here with this attitude.

~~~
andy_boot
Last time I checked this article was about the CIA. One of the commonly
accepted jobs of 'CIA' is someone who maintains the existing order and power
structures. You won't make many friends in he CIA if you go against it.

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barrkel
At this level, governments are not much better than organized crime. As a low-
level guy, you don't have leverage. Push too hard, and you'll force them to
deal with you unpleasantly.

Salary and severance negotiations are easier when you have the threat of
prison or death on your side.

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tokenadult
Previous submission of canonical URL 3 days ago (several upvotes, no
comments):

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4612485>

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coopdog
I was amazed they offered him the consulting role and full retirement,
although I suspect that the 'polygraph' clause might have been the real offer,
lure him into that to get evidence then charge him and cancel the deal.

You can see the military mindset though. Once he identified the CIA as the
enemy his mission was to use his abilities to crush them, to the point where
he rejected a good deal in favour of fighting 'to the end'. Their only choice
is to end it roughly, which is why it's almost always the default option.

~~~
andreasvc
I don't understand the fixation with the polygraph. Scientifically it's a
discredited device, and in court it doesn't yield admissible evidence. I see
that it intimidates people, but they should know better I think.

