RootsAction: Don't let the government crush whistleblowers

Will the CIA and NSA get away with ruining the personal finances of brave whistleblowers because they exposed official crimes like torture and mass surveillance? That's a question you can help answer in the next couple of minutes. After blowing the whistle on torture and domestic surveillance by the George W. Bush administration, former CIA officer John Kiriakou and former NSA executive Thomas Drake were prosecuted under the Espionage Act -- by the same Obama Justice Department that has refused to prosecute a single torturer or any subverter of the precious Fourth Amendment. By clicking here to directly support those two whistleblowers, you can let the government know that it can't get away with sending such courageous truth-tellers into bankruptcy. Edward Snowden has credited Kiriakou and Drake with inspiring his own act of conscience. Now we're launching the RootsAction for Whistleblowers public education campaign -- being co-chaired by Kiriakou and Drake. You can give crucial support by clicking here. Half of every tax-deductible dollar you donate to this campaign will go directly to Drake and Kiriakou, providing them with vital personal support. The other half of your donation will support the public action campaign they're chairing. Show the U.S. government that you stand with these inspiring whistleblowers. In defense of civil liberties and human decency, while taking grave risks at great personal costs -- Drake underwent years of vicious investigation, harassment and prosecution before defeating the government in court. Kiriakou spent two years in prison before being released early this year. Click here if you don't think their financial lives should be destroyed for speaking truth about power. Last winter, while Kiriakou was still in prison, a Huffington Post headline summed up: "The One Man Jailed For CIA Torture Tried to Expose It." If you find that morally unacceptable, click here to support John Kiriakou, Thomas Drake and the RootsAction for Whistleblowers public education campaign. Your donation will be tax-deductible. Jesselyn Radack, an attorney for Kiriakou and Drake who is herself a whistleblower, wrote for The New York Times: "After disclosure of the warrantless wiretapping, the government retroactively legalized it and immunized the telecoms. Torturers have been glorified in movies (which benefited from close government cooperation and a cascade of government leaks), written books divulging classified information (including sources and methods), and been given a pass by President Obama's 'look forward, not backward' policy." And Radack added: "A war on information that targets whistleblowers and journalists is more characteristic of a totalitarian state than a free and open democratic society." To widen vital support, we hope you'll forward this message to friends. Thank you! --- The RootsAction.org Team Background: > Jesselyn Radack, The New York Times: "Whistleblowers Deserve Protection Not Prison" > The Huffington Post: "The One Man Jailed for CIA Torture Tried to Expose It" > Jane Mayer, The New Yorker: Thomas Drake -- "The Secret Sharer"