[Kzyxtalk] 90-minute interview w Tom Drake now posted

[sako4 at comcast.net]

My 90-minute interview at KMEC Radio with NSA whistleblower, Tom Drake, has just been posted: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HjYfG4mYEE 





Thomas Drake is a former senior official of the National Security Agency (NSA) whom the Justice Department prosecuted under the Espionage Act. Drake is one of only four individuals in the history of the United States who has been charged specifically with “willful retention” of “national defense” information under 18 U.S.C. § 793(e) of the Espionage Act. 




In June 2011, the case against Drake collapsed, but he endured four years of investigation and faced 10 felony counts after he used internal mechanisms to disclose serious wrongdoing concerning a data collection program called "Trailblazer." 




Trailblazer was costly, wasteful and ineffective; it could have prevented 9/11, but didn't; and it threatened Americans' privacy rights, and was wholly undeveloped -- despite the availability of a cost-effective, functional alternative that protected Americans' privacy. That alternative was called "Thin Thread". 




The cost of Trailblazer? More than $1 billion. The cost of Thin Thread? About $3 million. 




Ultimately, the Department of Justice (DOJ) dropped all felony counts against Drake, and the judge excoriated DOJ lawyers for their conduct. 




Also, the NSA Inspector General declared Trailblazer an expensive failure. Again, it cost more than $1 billion. 

The Department of Defense Inspector General produced a final report of its own investigation that had been prompted by Drake. The report basically agreed with his assertions and found very serious flaws at NSA. For a time, the NSA was even banned from starting projects over a certain size, for fear it would waste the money. However, there are no plans to release this DoD IG report to the public at the time. 




Drake is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, regarded in the U.S. as the highest honor that a whistleblower can receive. He is also the co-recipient of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) award. 




Please support KMEC Radio and the Mendocino Environmental Center by becoming a member at: www.kmecradio.org. 

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