US Attack on Transparency Continues: CIA Whistleblower Indicted

Among others, Obama campaigned on the issues of increased government transparency and protection for whistleblowers, whom he claimed were heroes. Once in office, Obama's administration has prosecuted more whistleblowers than any president in US history, and more than all the presidents since Truman, combined. He has also blocked every effort to make government transparent while unconstitutionally increasing executive powers. An argument can be made that Obama is worse than Bush because we knew what we were getting with Bush. He sucked, but we knew he would suck. He didn't make and break campaign promises even close to the number Obama has. Obama lied during his campaign about many things (11 distinct campaign promises I tallied in a blog post here within the past couple of years). He has not even come close to being the president he claimed he would be during his campaign, but in fact he's almost the polar opposite of his campaign image. He ran as a progressive, and rules as a fascist authoritarian, taking away as many, or more, of our constitutional rights than Bush did. Obviously, Romney is not any better. The 2012 election may feature the two worst presidential candidates--definitely the two biggest "say anything to get elected" liars-- in US history.--jef

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Friday, April 6, 2012 by Common Dreams
Former CIA officer, Kiriakou, faces years in prison

Washington continues its attack on whistle-blowers today as CIA whistle-blower, John Kiriakou, has been indicted in court for charges of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and three counts of violating the Espionage Act.

Former CIA officer, Kiriakou, allegedly leaked information to journalists about classified CIA operations and included classified information in his 2010 book, The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror.

Kiriakou had become a well know whistle-blower after he became the first US official to reveal the use of waterboarding, a torture technique used by the US.

Kiriakou's indictment allows the case to proceed to trial without an evidentiary hearing.

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'Reluctant Spy' indicted for leaking US secrets (Agence France-Presse):

A CIA intelligence officer between 1990 and 2004, Kiriakou was accused in the indictment of leaking information to reporters anonymously identified as "Journalist A" and "Journalist B." 

The charges stem from an investigation into classified information, including photographs of a CIA official, that found its way into classified filings by defense lawyers representing detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, the US naval base in southern Cuba. 

The indictment claims Kiriakou was a source of information for a June 2008 New York Times article that identified a CIA operative and revealed other classified information. 

Kiriakou also was alleged to have lied to a CIA review board while he was seeking permission to publish a book about his experience. 

In the book, Kiriakou sought to include information about a "magic box," which was said to be a CIA scanning device allowing the agency to track Al-Qaeda suspects in Pakistan through their mobile phones.