Huffington Post - Human rights and open government advocates harshly criticized the Obama administration over the criminal charges brought against an ex-CIA officer for allegedly leaking to reporters the names of two agency operatives involved in the brutal interrogation of terrorism detainees.
John Kiriakou, 47, the CIA's former director of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, was arraigned in federal court in Virginia on Monday on charges of espionage, lying to investigators and disclosing the identity of a covert operative. He was released on bond.
His attorney, Plato Cacheris, said he would plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Kiriakou, of Arlington, Va., is the sixth government official charged with espionage by the Obama administration for leaking classified information to reporters. The espionage law, enacted in 1917, was used only three times prior to Obama's election to prosecute leaks to the media.
Jesselyn Radack, an attorney with the Government Accountability Project, which defends whistle-blowers, called Kiriakou's arrest the most recent example of a broader administration crackdown against federal officials who disclose illegal, abusive or wasteful government activity.
"This is being done to send a chilling message to whistle-blowers, journalists and defense lawyers to keep quiet," Radack said.
Kiriakou allegedly leaked information to reporters about two CIA agents directly involved in interrogations of terrorism suspects during the Bush administration that used waterboarding -- a simulated drowning technique that President Obama has himself described as torture.
In 2009, President Obama declared that while waterboarding was torture and illegal, he would not pursue U.S operatives or officials who performed it or authorized its use.
Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" in 1971, revealing a long history of government duplicity over the Vietnam War, said it was brazenly hypocritical to prosecute Kiriakou for leaking information related to waterboarding while those who performed it were granted immunity.
"You're criminalizing the revelation of illegality and you're decriminalizing the illegality -- the torture," Ellsberg said.
John Kiriakou, 47, the CIA's former director of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan, was arraigned in federal court in Virginia on Monday on charges of espionage, lying to investigators and disclosing the identity of a covert operative. He was released on bond.
His attorney, Plato Cacheris, said he would plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
Kiriakou, of Arlington, Va., is the sixth government official charged with espionage by the Obama administration for leaking classified information to reporters. The espionage law, enacted in 1917, was used only three times prior to Obama's election to prosecute leaks to the media.
Jesselyn Radack, an attorney with the Government Accountability Project, which defends whistle-blowers, called Kiriakou's arrest the most recent example of a broader administration crackdown against federal officials who disclose illegal, abusive or wasteful government activity.
"This is being done to send a chilling message to whistle-blowers, journalists and defense lawyers to keep quiet," Radack said.
Kiriakou allegedly leaked information to reporters about two CIA agents directly involved in interrogations of terrorism suspects during the Bush administration that used waterboarding -- a simulated drowning technique that President Obama has himself described as torture.
In 2009, President Obama declared that while waterboarding was torture and illegal, he would not pursue U.S operatives or officials who performed it or authorized its use.
Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the "Pentagon Papers" in 1971, revealing a long history of government duplicity over the Vietnam War, said it was brazenly hypocritical to prosecute Kiriakou for leaking information related to waterboarding while those who performed it were granted immunity.
"You're criminalizing the revelation of illegality and you're decriminalizing the illegality -- the torture," Ellsberg said.
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