

John Kiriakou: Obama's abuse of the Espionage Act is modern-day McCarthyism - detcader
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/06/obama-abuse-espionage-act-mccarthyism

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bostik
It bears noting that the author is not just anybody. He's one of the people
charged under Espionage Act, so he certainly should know what the process
involves and how a whistleblower is treated in the current political climate.

I would also like to point out the second-to-last paragraph. "The press also
has a role to play, one that, so far, it has largely ignored. That role is to
report on and investigate the whistleblower's revelations of illegality, not
on the kind of car he drives, the brand of eyeglasses he wears, where he went
to college, or what his nextdoor neighbor has to say about their childhood."
That would be cynical, if it wasn't so horrifyingly accurate.

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twoodfin
It's also worth pointing out that while the Espionage Act charges were dropped
as part of his plea bargain, he did plead guilty to a charge under the
Intelligence Identities Protection Act[1]. The judge didn't buy that his
prosecution was politically motivated:

 _Kiriakou, who wrote a book detailing his CIA career, had tried to argue
after the charges were filed that he was a victim of vindictive prosecution by
government officials who believed he portrayed the CIA negatively, but the
judge rejected those arguments as well._

[1]
[http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14626249-...](http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/22/14626249-ex-
cia-agent-pleads-guilty-to-leaking-identity-of-covert-
operative?lite&ocid=msnhp)

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gregd
I'm afraid that I know where American Apathy(tm) comes from. What can we do
about this?

I've written to my Senators, who, incidentally, are very critical of this NSA
debacle and we've seen no change. I've donated money to EFF. I've told
everyone I know that this is unacceptable. What next? Protest in the streets?
What would that get us?

I'm not sure what we can do collectively to affect change. I feel completely
hamstrung by the setup.

~~~
tiles
Where does it come from?

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walshemj
To borrow a line from Christine Keeler well he woudl say that what he what
does the Espionage Act (1917) have to do with the Intelligence Identities
Protection Act which is what he was charged with?

And BTW Libby should be doing 20-Life for burning a cia officer for petty
party political gain

I would agree that adding computer misuse charges against Bradly manning was
pointless and stupid.

~~~
twoodfin
Libby didn't "burn" Valerie Plame. Colin Powell's deputy Richard Armitage did.

~~~
walshemj
Ah I sit corrected - but Libby was the one that got the dodgy presidential
pardon no?

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detcader
Well, it looks like this story is no longer on the front page, or the second
page, or the third.. I guess the oppressive streak of the US government
against those acting in gray areas for the common good is not germane to
"hackers"

