WASHINGTON — A former spy agency official who was the target of a government leak investigation says he feels a "significant kinship" with National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
Thomas Drake, who was a top NSA official, assailed the Obama administration Tuesday for what he called an "unprecedented and ruthless campaign" against leakers of secret government information.
The government ended up dropping its felony espionage case against Drake and he received a year's probation in 2011 after acknowledging that he gave inside information to The Baltimore Sun about a major government electronic espionage program. The judge in the case criticized the government for putting him through "four years of hell."
Snowden is facing espionage charges for revealing two highly classified surveillance programs. He remains in hiding, having left Hong Kong for Russia.
Drake spoke during a panel discussion at the American Society of News Editors convention. Also on the panel were Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll and Fox News journalist James Rosen.
Carroll criticized the Justice Department for the secret seizure of thousands of AP phone records as part of its investigation into who leaked information for an AP story in 2012 about a foiled plot in Yemen to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner. DOJ informed the AP of the seizure last month.
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