Coast to Coast AM September 16 2012 - NSA Whistleblower

Coast to Coast AM September 16 2012 - NSA Whistleblower

Date: 09-16-12
Host: George Knapp
Guests: Thomas Drake

George Knapp was joined by former senior executive of the NSA, Thomas Drake (related article), who discussed his decision to blow the whistle on the Trailblazer Project, which led to his being charged with ten counts of mishandling documents. He explained that the Trailblazer Project was designed by the NSA to respond to the massive amount of new data being generated with the advent of the digital age. According to Drake, Trailblazer was launched in the Spring of 2000 and, following 9/11, generated billions of dollars for NSA contractors because it was seen as the "flagship program" for harnessing intelligence information. Chillingly, he observed that corporate interests, which worked with the NSA, viewed 9/11 as "gift," since they could reap massive profits from the War on Terror.

Drake revealed that his problems with the NSA began when the agency rejected his proposal for an alternative spying program, known as "ThinThread," which was designed to protect the privacy of US citizens. Following that, colleagues began to question why they were being tasked with spying on American citizens using a "super top secret" program called "Stellar Wind," which, he said, had been turned on the US on a "massive scale." Drake's attempts to determine the legality of the program were thwarted by the NSA and he was subsequently told that the spying had been approved "by the White House" and to stop asking questions about it. In light of these unconstitutional decisions, Drake served as a witness to Congressional and DoD investigations into NSA malfeasance, which led to his responsibilities with the agency being dramatically curtailed.

Following a revelatory New York Times article on NSA spying, the agency launched a massive investigation into finding the sources behind the story. Since Drake was privy to many of the secrets revealed in the article, he was seen as a suspect behind the leaks and became the target of surveillance "on a scale that I would never want any American to experience." Faced with no other outlet to protect himself and hold the government accountable, Drake decided to contact the media with his story. This decision resulted in the government indicting him on 10 counts, including the felonious mishandling of classified documents. "I had become an enemy of the state," he declared, noting that the government planned to make an example of him to stop future employees from speaking out. Ultimately, the case against Drake "collapsed under the weight of truth," when the government dropped the felony counts and he accepted a plea deal for a "very minor misdemeanor."