Veterans, Former Intelligence Officers to Congress: Pass the Daniel Ellsberg Act

Sixteen veterans of the U.S. armed forces and former members of the U.S. intelligence community, including retired Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s former chief of staff; former NSA officer and whistleblower Thomas Drake; and former USMC Captain and State Department Officer Matthew Hoh, who resigned in protest over the Afghan War; have coauthored a letter to Congress, urging lawmakers to pass the Daniel Ellsberg Press Freedom and Whistleblower Protection Act, set to be introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) this week.

The new legislation, co-authored by Defending Rights & Dissent and named in honor of the legendary Pentagon Papers whistleblower, would reform the Espionage Act of 1917 to curtail its abuse against members of the press, whistleblowers, and other journalistic sources. The veterans and former intelligence officers know first-hand the dangers of extreme secrecy to conceal government misconduct. They write,

The founding of our Republic is based on the consent of the governed. When the government makes war or spies on its own people in secret, and seeks to use the threat of criminal prosecution to maintain that secrecy, this core principle is severely undermined. The Espionage Act must be reformed not only because it is intolerable that patriotic public servants acting in good faith are prosecuted as though they were spies, but also because it is a serious threat to our democracy.

The new bill amends two particularly overbroad sections of the Espionage Act to limit the law’s application solely to either foreign agents or government employees with a duty to protect classified information. It also allows defendants to explain their intent to expose wrongdoing in court.

The letter, which was also signed by former CIA employees Jeffrey Sterling and John Kiriakou, former among others, comes just days before Rep. Tlaib is expected to introduce the Ellsberg Act in the House of Representatives. 

Rep. Tlaib, members of Ellsberg’s family, and representatives from the Freedom of the Press Foundation will join Defending Rights & Dissent for a live web event, announcing the Ellsberg Act and explaining how it could change the future of press freedom in the United States, on Thursday, March 12, at 3pm ET. 

Download the letter, or read it below