Thomas Drake\u2019s legal ordeal ruined him financially and ended in 2011 with all serious accusations against him dropped. His case served as a prologue to Snowden\u2019s. Now Crane\u2019s account has led to a new investigation at the US justice department into whistleblower retaliation at the Pentagon that may serve as an epilogue \u2013 one Crane hopes will make the Pentagon a safe place for insiders to expose wrongdoing and illegality.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have situations where we have whistleblowers investigated because they\u2019re whistleblowers to the inspector general\u2019s office, that will simply shut down the whole whistleblower system,\u201d Crane told the Guardian.<\/p>\n
Crane, who has not previously given interviews, has told his explosive story in a new book, Bravehearts: Whistle Blowing In The Age of Snowden by Mark Hertsgaard, from which the Guardian is running extracts. The Guardian has partnered with Der Spiegel and Newsweek Japan on Crane\u2019s story.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen someone becomes a whistleblower, they\u2019re making a serious, conscious decision,\u201d Crane said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re making a decision that can change their lives, change their futures, impact family life, too. There needs to be this certain unbreakable trust. Confidentiality is that trust and that can\u2019t ever be violated.\u201d<\/p>\n Snowden cited Drake\u2019s case as a reason for his lack of faith in the government\u2019s official whistleblower channels.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was at NSA, everybody knew that for anything more serious than workplace harassment, going through the official process was a career-ender at best. It\u2019s part of the culture,\u201d Snowden told the Guardian.<\/p>\n \u201cIf your boss in the mailroom lies on his timesheets, the IG might look into it. But if you\u2019re Thomas Drake, and you find out the president of the United States ordered the warrantless wiretapping of everyone in the country, what\u2019s the IG going to do? They\u2019re going to flush it, and you with it.\u201d<\/p>\n While Drake\u2019s case is well known in US national security circles, its internal history is not.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Edward Snowden has called for a complete overhaul of US whistleblower protections after a new source from deep inside the Pentagon came forward with a startling account of how the system became a \u201ctrap\u201d for those seeking to expose wrongdoing. The account of John Crane, a former senior Pentagon investigator, appears to undermine Barack Obama, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":216343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/77185399a22341f6502371be3718f6ab0700cf9d\/77_113_1409_845\/master\/1409.jpg?w=620&q=20&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&dpr=2&s=a30530263a44bcd00dbb25dfedd4f491)
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