tom drake was a whistleblower from nsa who was charged with five counts of espionage for leaking some rather mundane information. i was able to show with the help of debbie that the information they were charging him with was not only unclassified and they wanted to put him in jail for 35 years, it was not only unclassified, but it was in the public domain and put there by the nsa and the pentagon. so when it came time for the trial, the prosecution threw the case out and asked him to, please, just sign this thing agreeing to a misdemeanor with no jail time and no fine, and a judge spent 20 minutes yelling at the prosecutor and the nsa. so it was a really good case, so i appreciated debbie's work on that. [applause] >> so hi, jim, it's good to see you. thank you for that. [laughter] >> for 'em -- embracerring you. >> slightly. i'm going to play dell's advocate a bit which is driven partly by this uncomfortable feeling i have with edward snowden, actually, and it's driven in large part by my experience in tom's case which is, you know, i've read articles in the post and the times that

>> i'm from the government accountability project, and we represent edward snowden and tom drake and bill binney and kirk wiebe and ed loomis. i just wanted to point out that the congress actually took out the whistleblower protection enhancement act any protection from retaliation for intelligence community whistleblowers. and therefore their portable to any action the government takes against them or the private corporation. do you see on the horizon any enhanced protection from reprisal coming from the congress or the obama administration? >> yet, to point out some really important facts there, the fact that the whistleblowers don't have protection and that's one of the things the administration keys talking about, well, you know, they have the proper channels they can go to. they don't have the proper channels and i don't see any legislation. i've been watching this for years, you know, my bread-and-butter comes from whistleblowers. that's what i write a lot of the things i do. to give you one quick example there, one of the people that i quoted from in my last book, "the shadow

she was the lead attorney on the tom drake case. worked on that case with a tremendously scuffle case. tom drake was a whistle-blower from nsa who was charged with five counts of ease espionage for leaking mundane information. i was able to show, with the help of debby, that the information they were charging him with was not only unclassified, they wanted to put him in jail for 35 years. not only unclassified but it was in the public domain and put there by the nsa and the pentagon. when it came time for the trial, the prosecution threw the case out and asked them to please sign a thing agreeing to the misdemeanor with no jail time and no fine. and the judge spent 20 minutes yelling at the prosecutor and the nsa. so it was really good case. i appreciated debby's work on that. [applause] so i had, tim. it's good to see you. >> for embarrassing you. >> i'm actually going to take a different role and play devil advocate. it's driven in the part by the uncomfortable feeling i have with edward snowden actually and distributed in large p

she was the lead attorney on the tom drake case. worked on that case and it was a tremendously successful case. a whistle-blower from the nsa who is charged with 5-pound to five counts of espionage. leaking some rather mundane information. i was able to show with the help of to me that the member mentioned there were charging him with was not only unclassified and that one of the put him in jail for 35 years, not only unclassified, but it was in the public domain and put there by the nsa and the pentagon. so when it came time her child the prosecution rift -- please to sign this green tell mr. mayor with no jail time and no fines the judge spent 20 minutes and yelling at the prosecutor and the nsa. it was a good case. i appreciated the deputies work on it. >> it's good to see. thank you for that. >> you're embarrassing me. >> and i'm going to take a different role and play devil's advocate which is driven in part by this and comparable -- uncomfortable feeling that i have. it is driven in large part on my experience in tom's case wh

tom drake, as a result, was subject to a spurious, punitive prosecution with no valid basis, which ledsentially to an apology from the judge in the end after he had been bankrupt. looking at that experience specifically, edwards noted new it would be foolish and hopeless for him to call attention to this within the channels. he did exactly right, and others should follow the same, not just when they disagree or object with policy, as the president suggested, when they feel it is unconstitutional, criminal, as, nsahe way, the years of warrantless spying from 2001-2006 with no legal basis for criminal, unconstitutional, and delete essentially by no one with documents. what edward snowden has done is provide documents to prove that what was done in the past was clearly illegal and that put into question the whole oversight procedure, and the good faith of nsa in binding itself to the constitution. so, i think he did what he should have done as all four of those nsa people who did not do it have said now he did it right, our approach was hopeless. well, i have served the government off and

she was the lead attorney on the tom drake case. worked on that case and it was a tremendously successful case. a whistle-blower from the nsa who is charged with 5-pound to five counts of espionage. leaking some rather mundane information. i was able to show with the help of to me that the member mentioned there were charging him with was not only unclassified and that one of the put him in jail for 35 years, not only unclassified, but it was in the public domain and put there by the nsa and the pentagon. so when it came time her child the prosecution rift -- please to sign this green tell mr. mayor with no jail time and no fines the judge spent 20 minutes and yelling at the prosecutor and the nsa. it was a good case. i appreciated the deputies work on it. >> it's good to see. thank you for that. >> you're embarrassing me. >> and i'm going to take a different role and play devil's advocate which is driven in part by this and comparable -- uncomfortable feeling that i have. it is driven in large part on my experience in tom's case wh

to be the same award the sam adams associates for integrity and intelligence a word that tom drake and ray mcgovern and than myself in calling rally delivered last year to edward snowden you know i didn't want to be belligerent or talk back or be smart or clever or. argue when in a kind of way again because i depended upon this person to let me into the country but again i feel like this there is a pattern that's developing of interrogating journalists and lawyers at borders and that is unacceptable and jesselyn as i understand it and as a whistleblower thomas drake was traveling with you and was also going to the meeting at the ecuadorian embassy yet he wasn't exactly question in the way that you were any sense as to why you were singled out there i have no idea i mean that and mean it seems like i mean because of the questions i was asked and why tom was not singled out based on the questions i was asked i can only surmise it is because i am a representative a legal advisor to edward snowden and as i understand it you were on something called or you found out later you were on someth

to be the same awarded bits and atoms associates for integrity and intelligence to warrant that tom drake and ray mcgovern and myself in calling rally delivered last year to edward today. you know i didn't want to be belligerent or talk back or be smart or clever or sth. he'll be a arguing any kind of way can become dependent upon this person to lead me into the country. but again tom. i feel like this there's a pattern that's developing of interrogating journalists and lawyers at borders and that is unacceptable. i'm just the inner cnn and nsa whistleblower thomas break was traveling we knew and was also going to add to the meeting of ecuadorian and if he is he wasn't exactly question in the way the eu were any sense as to why you were singled out there. i have no idea i mean de amigo it seems like it. i mean because of the questions i was asked in one of my time was not singled out. based on the questions that it was they can only surmise that is because i am not represented at the legal advisor to the gorge near them. and the understanding you were on something called are you found out

tom drake, occur week, all the people who defined the nsa. these are people who were working there for almost 40 years. tom drake it works their is a contractor for a long time. before that he was in the military. and tom's to cut hundreds first-ever job at nsa was september 11 to those among. but these are the people that i really and mired because their people who have a conscience. and when 9/11 came along and the nsc began he's tapping domestic is the people that spoke up. they left the agency, quit the agency because it did not want to see the system they work on turned into a vehicle for use german-american citizens and the u.s. so i have a lot of aberration. in all have the honor of attention that is no national what they did an awful lot of work to help get the message out in a few of the mayor here tonight actually. well, the nsa is, longways since herbert l. yardley in the town house. now it's an entire city. have been to their a few times. and it is just a mammoth location. people have no idea how much that agency has grown just in

and tom drake's first day on the job was september 11th, 2001.hese are the people -- they are people who have a conscience. when 9/11 came along and the nsa began eavesdroping domestically these are the people who spoke up. they left the agency. they quit the agency because they didn't want to see the system they worked on turned into a vehicle for eavesdropping on american citizens in the u.s.. i have a lot of admiration for them. they don't have the amount of attention ed snowden has that they did an awful lot of work to help get the message out and a few of them are here tonight actually. this is the nsa has gone a long way since herbert yardley in the town house. now it is an entire city. i have been through there a few times. it is up mammoth location. people have no idea how much of the agency has grown in the last ten years. the headquarters complex itself you could put the u.s. capitol in four times over and have space leftover. the whole purpose for this is eavesdropping. is an agency that really needs to have a close eye on and that is