Enemy of the State

Together with Jesselyn Radack, the best-known attorney advocating on behalf of whistleblowers, former NSA senior executive Thomas Drake tells the story of the government’s relentless campaign against him. Media heat, intrigue, and integrity in intelligence feature in this shocking story.

"It’s fair to say that if there hadn’t been a Thomas Drake, there wouldn’t have been an Edward Snowden." ―Edward Snowden in The Guardian (May 22, 2016)

On November 28, 2007, armed FBI agents raided the home of Thomas Drake, former senior executive at the National Security Agency. Drake’s signature indictment (the first whistleblower since Daniel Ellsberg charged under the Espionage Act of 1917) and prosecution by the U.S. government was a stark example and reminder of the erosion of civil rights and individual liberties in this post 9/11 world.

A year earlier, Drake, disillusioned by the waste, corruption, and fraud at the NSA, contacted Baltimore Sun reporter Siobhan Gorman and shared information that led to a series of award-winning articles about an agency grossly mishandling its resources and infringing on the rights of citizens. Drake’s role at the agency was slowly diminished until he was forced to resign, the prosecution thwarting his well-being every step of the way.

Drake's story has featured prominently in the media, and contributed to the public’s suspicion of American intelligence agencies. In 2011, a 10,000 word article in The New Yorker likened the corruption Drake was exposing at the risk of his career to the Nixon administration. In a piece from "60 Minutes," the prosecution’s charges were demonstrated to be unfounded, and the complaints proven out. His status as a hero of truthtelling was highlighted in Oliver Stone's Snowden, and his character served significantly as an inspiration for Edward Snowden’s own revelations (as he did in real life). Together with Jesselyn Radack, perhaps the nation's best-known lawyer advocating on behalf of whistleblowers, Drake offers a revealing and personal story about the failures of the NSA, the ruthlessness of the Justice Department, and the necessity of protecting civil liberties.