1. Whistleblowers in an Era of Big Data
Historical Background: - Daniel Ellsberg, Vietnam, and “The Pentagon Papers” - COINTELPRO and Intelligence Reform in the 1970s Today’s Internet Age: - Julian Assange and WikiLeaks - Edward Snowden Exposes the National Security Agency

2. Broad Questions for the Day
Do whistleblowers help or harm (or potentially both) international society?
What does the rise of Big Data mean for individual privacy and government transparency?
-What role will investigative journalism play in the electronic age?
How do democracies handle the tension between SECURITY and LIBERTY?

3. Daniel Ellsberg – The Disillusioned Insider
Worked for Dept. of Defense on Vietnam in mid-1960s, initially supports the war
Begins doubting the war’s effectiveness and its morality while at RAND Corp.
Excerpt from The Most Dangerous Man in America (2009)
Spielberg’s The Post 2017

4. Ellsberg Takes Action
Has access to secret Pentagon report on history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam
Report portrays private U.S. pessimism about war in contrast to optimistic public statements
1969: Ellsberg makes photocopies and seeks outlet to expose duplicity
Does not leak diplomatic vols.

5. “The Pentagon Papers” Hit the Press
Congressmen largely uninterested
-exception: Mike Gravel (D-AK)
Taken to New York Times; Concerns about prosecution by Espionage Act but still published in June 1971
Nixon admin. stops NYT; Other newspapers print instead; Court rules against Nixon injunction
Exposes the “Credibility Gap”

6. Ellsberg on Trial
Ellsberg and friend Anthony Russo put on trial for violating Espionage Act, theft, and conspiracy in summer of 1971
Mistrial due to “improper government conduct” (illegal wire-tapping, tampering with judge)

7. Unintended Result: The Watergate Scandal
Nixon admin. (not implicated in Pentagon Papers) use “Plumbers” to break into office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist
Wiretapping and break-ins precedent for Watergate that leads to Nixon’s resignation in 1974…and increases Credibility Gap further

8. Exposure of FBI’s COINTELPRO Program
Also takes place in Vietnam War era
COunter INTELligence PROgram
J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI, and domestic spying on “subversives”
On Hoover’s “Enemies” List: MLK and Civil Rights leaders, homosexuals, anti-war activists

9. COINTELPRO Shut Down in 1971
Impact of break-in of FBI office in PA in March 1971
1971 – new documentary by Laura Poitras, journalist in contact with Snowden
Surveillance and other intelligence issues taken up by the Church Committee in 1975
post-VN, Watergate
Frank Church (D-Idaho)

10. Church Committee: Review of U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Investigated CIA, FBI, NSA, IRS, others
Concern over opening citizens’ mail, intercepting telegrams
Exposed CIA support for assassination of foreign leaders
Substantial “mission creep” by agencies
Result: OVERSIGHT - Intell. Cmtes formed in both houses of Congress, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and FISA Court

11. WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the Hacker-Activist
Established in 2006 by Australian Assange Role of Technology: layering/obscuring identity of leaker for protection WikiLeaks initially releases docs in full (no redactions)

12. WikiLeaks’ Major Leaks (2010)
“Collateral Murder” video, Apr.
Afghan War Diary, 91k docs, July
Iraq War Logs, 400k docs, Oct.
State Dept. Cables, 250k docs, Nov.
“Cablegate” largest leak ever
Released in collaboration with NYT, The Guardian (UK), and Der Spiegel (Germany)
U.S. gov’t does not stop
Tunisian Corruption
Podesta s

13. Source: Private Manning
How discovered? Bragging to hacker
Charged and Convicted in Aug under Espionage Act – 35 years in prison, dishonorable discharge
Sentence commuted

14. Diplomatic Fallout? Tunisia and Arab Spring
U.S. Gov’t Concerned about:
-Endangering assets/informants
-Jeopardizing ongoing programs and negotiations
-Embarrassing statements

15. Snowden and NSA Context
Restructuring and Growth of Intelligence Agencies post-9/11
-Patriot Act
-George W. Bush’s Warrantless Wiretapping
Washington Post’s “Top Secret America” series (2010):

16. Edward Snowden – The Contract (Worker) Assassin
Former CIA systems analyst and Booz Allen Hamilton employee contracted by NSA
Leaks NSA information to few journalists, esp. Glenn Greenwald of The Guardian
A Wanted Man: Hong Kong -> Russia
Snowden in his own words, June 2013:

17. Revelations about the National Security Agency’s Mass Surveillance
Brings Concerns about Privacy to the Forefront -spying on foreigners in U.S. PRISM – data mining , Social Media, and Cell Phones Justified targeting or pre-emptive dragnet? Gen. Keith Alexander, head of NSA -Snowden made U.S. less safe, helped terrorists -Lied to Congress about # of terrorist plots thwarted

18. Impact: International and Domestic
Heightened domestic scrutiny and discussion about surveillance
-The Security vs. Liberty conundrum
Listening in on foreign leaders’ private cell phones
Angela Merkel of Germany
U.S. refuses to release Merkel’s NSA file, April 2014
Future Reforms by Obama Administration
FISA Court
A New Church Cmte?

19. More from Snowden’s Guardian
The Guardian and Washington Post win 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service
Glenn Greenwald, now part of First Look Media and editor of its online “The Intercept” (
The Snowden Files by Luke Harding, who also wrote Inside WikiLeaks