Former NSA Employee Pleads Guilty To Lesser Charges In Case Of Leakage
Baltimore Reports
Andrew Thomas Drake, a former employee of the National Security Agency accused of leaking classified information to a reporter, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of a crime of "abuse of the permitted use of a computer."
Andrew Thomas Drake, a former employee of the National Security Agency accused of leaking classified information to a reporter, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of a crime of "abuse of the permitted use of a computer."
And 'much less than the criminal law violations and spyware misrepresentation Drake was originally charged, and is a great reversal of the original legal position of the government which undermine national security.
"I hope it's a blow to the use of espionage laws to send a message to 'leak, which is most often whistleblower Jesselyn Radack said, representing Drake in another case concerning NSA.
"It was the wrong person, it was the wrong case and the law on espionage was a powerful perfection," said Radack.
He said Drake did not comment on the ruling, by itself, which is scheduled for July 15, when the Ministry of Justice is also possible to distinguish the most serious charges against him.
He faces up to a year in federal prison, although prosecutors said Friday they would not object to a "custody" sentence - a meaning that does not include delivery. He faces 30 years in prison under the original indictment of 10-Count.
Drake, who had a top-secret clearance as an NSA employee, was indicted last year for keeping classified information, which prosecutors said he gave the former Baltimore Sun reporter Siobhan Gorman between 2006 and 2007. Gorman has written a series of articles on waste and mismanagement at the NSA, now works for The Wall Street Journal.
But Drake says that his information is not classified and that Gorman gave classified information to investigators as part of waste programs for the research office whistle-blowing.
It has never been accused of leaking information, even if pay is generally regarded as the message that the Obama administration to reduce losses. And 'one of the five cases prosecuted by the Federal Court, and part of a broader strategy to exclude unauthorized disclosure of information that some advocates of open government said.
"Individuals who are granted access to our most sensitive information can not unilaterally decide to make law and agreements with the government on how this data can be treated," Assistant U.S. Atty. Lanny A. General Breuer said in a statement.
Ministry of Justice said it had agreed to dispose of other charges against Drake and become part of a plea bargain to avoid the release of classified information, through litigation.
"We always find the right balance between keeping track those who violate our laws, while not revealing sensitive information that our intelligence agencies conclude would be prejudicial to the security of our nation, if used in a trial, "Breuer said.
In a joint statement released Friday, federal public defenders, Drake, Deborah and James Wyda Boardman, said that "never should have been charged under the Espionage Act."
"Tom did not want to hurt his country. And he did not. We are grateful that Tom and his family can begin to put this chapter behind them fear, they said.
