Surveillance and Privacy

Reality Winner, Whistleblower on Russian Hacking, Is Released From Prison

The Intercept
June 14, 2021

Reality Winner, the most prominent and harshly punished whistleblower of the Trump era, has been released to a halfway house after serving most of her five-year sentence for leaking a classified document on Russia’s effort to hack the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Court ... (Read more)

Before Snowden, an NSA Spy Incited Change from the Inside. He Called Himself a “Curmudgeon.”

The Intercept
August 15, 2018

You know the type.

Middle-aged, male, tired of his job. He’s been around for ages and moans about how things were done 10 times better back in the day. Every so often, he snaps pointlessly at a co-worker. He’s the office curmudgeon. It’s ... (Read more)

Trump Finds New Weapon for His War on Journalism — Leak Indictments Aimed at Smearing Reporters

The Intercept
July 15, 2018

Last month, James Wolfe was indicted for lying to the FBI about his contacts with four reporters while he worked for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. His indictment, and the media coverage of it, focused to a lopsided extent on just ... (Read more)

Reality Winner Has Been in Jail for a Year. Her Prosecution Is Unfair and Unprecedented.

The Intercept
June 3, 2018

This is a tale of two defendants and two systems of justice.

Christmas was coming, and Paul Manafort wanted to spend the holiday with his extended family in the Hamptons, where he owns a four-acre estate that has 10 bedrooms, a pool, a tennis court, ... (Read more)

Interrogation of Reality Winner Reveals Deceptive Tactics of “Exceedingly Friendly” FBI Agents

The Intercept
Dec. 28, 2017

In late January, George Papadopoulos did what a lot of Americans do when FBI agents ask for a few minutes of their time — he agreed to talk. It’s a decision he likely regrets, because in October the former adviser to President Donald Trump’s ... (Read more)

Obama’s Pardon of Gen. James Cartwright Is a New Twist in the War on Leaks

The Intercept
Jan. 18, 2017

The celebrations over President Barack Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence have overshadowed what might be a more consequential development in the government’s long-running war against leakers and whistleblowers: ... (Read more)

Why Obama Should Pardon All Whistleblowers and Leakers — Not Just Edward Snowden

The Intercept
Sept. 19, 2016

Of course President Obama should pardon Edward Snowden — and Chelsea Manning, too.

But this story is not about the excellent reasons for thanking rather than locking up the two most famous whistleblowers of the post-9/11 era. Plenty of people ... (Read more)

He Was a Hacker for the NSA and He Was Willing to Talk. I Was Willing to Listen.

The Intercept
June 28, 2016

The message arrived at night and consisted of three words: “Good evening sir!”

The sender was a hacker who had written a series of provocative memos at the National Security Agency. His secret memos had explained — with an earthy use of slang ... (Read more)

What It’s Like to Read the NSA’s Newspaper for Spies

The Intercept
May 9, 2016

The men and women who work at the National Security Agency were greeted, on March 31, 2003, with a cheery notice on their office computers. “Welcome to SIDtoday,” a new internal website announced, explaining that the communications team in the ... (Read more)

Obama’s Gift to Trump: A Policy of Cracking Down on Journalists and Their Sources

The Intercept
April 6, 2016

ONE OF THE intellectual gargoyles that has crawled out of Donald Trump’s brain is the idea that we should “open up” libel laws to make it easier to punish the media for negative or unfair stories. Trump also wants top officials to sign nondisclosure ... (Read more)