Salon.com > Whistleblower

The government whistleblower who wouldn’t be silenced

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:11:00 +0000

What do words mean in a post-9/11 world? Apart from the now clichéd Orwellian twists that turn brutal torture into mere enhanced interrogation, the devil is in the details. Robert MacLean is a former air marshal fired for an act of whistleblowing. He has continued to fight over seven long years for what once would have passed as simple justice: getting his job back. His is an all-too-twenty-first-century story of the extraordinary lengths to which the U.S. government is willing to go to thwart whistleblowers.

First, the government retroactively classified a previously unclassified text message to justify firing MacLean. Then it invoked arcane civil service procedures, including an “interlocutory appeal” to thwart him and, in the process, enjoyed the approval of various courts and bureaucratic boards apparently willing to stamp as “legal” anything the government could make up in its own interest.

And yet here’s the miracle at the heart of this tale: MacLean refused to quit, when ordinary mortals would have thrown in the towel. Now, with a recent semi-victory, he may not only have given himself a shot at getting his old job back, but also create a precedent for future federal whistleblowers. In the post-9/11 world, people like Robert MacLean show us how deep the Washington rabbit hole really goes.

SF Pride capitulates, drops Manning

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 20:04:00 +0000

A group of former San Francisco Pride parade grand marshals that SF Pride calls its electoral college announced on April 26 that Pfc. Bradley Manning, the gay private who the United States military is currently prosecuting for disclosing information to WikiLeaks, had been selected as honorary grand marshal for this year’s LGBT Pride Celebration.

The decision greatly offended some of the most militaristic LGBT organizations and activists, who condemned SF Pride. That ultimately led to capitulation by SF Pride president, Lisa Williams, who announced in a letter that Manning would not be honored this year.

She cast the reversal as a product of dysfunction in the organization:

Bradley Manning will not be a grand marshal in this year’s San Francisco Pride celebration. His nomination was a mistake and should never have been allowed to happen. A staff person at SF Pride, acting under his own initiative, prematurely contacted Bradley Manning based on internal conversations within the SF Pride organization. That was an error and that person has been disciplined. He does not now, nor did he at that time, speak for SF Pride.

Manning trial reporters told to “police” selves

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 21:45:00 +0000

Kevin Gosztola, reporting on the Bradley Manning pretrial hearings at Fort Meade this week, noted an interesting and troubling incident relating to press coverage of the proceedings. Following the leak of audio of a statement read by Manning, a military public affairs officer has reportedly offered stern warnings to credentialed reporters in the press gallery. Via Gosztola:

In reaction to the leak of audio of a statement read by Pfc. Bradley Manning in military court at Fort Meade last month, a military public affairs officer told reporters credentialed to cover his court martial, “Police yourselves.” The officer scolded the press saying, “If there is another violation, everyone feels the pain, not just certain individuals.”

The Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) in March published a copy of audio someone recorded of Manning reading the statement he wrote when he pled guilty to disclosing some information to WikiLeaks. FPF saw the publication of the audio as an act that supported journalism, which combatted “overreaching government secrecy.” It noted, “While reporters are allowed in the courtroom, no audio or visual recordings are permitted by the judge, no transcripts of the proceedings or any motions by the prosecution have been released, and lengthy court orders read on the stand by the judge have not been published for public review.”

The officer offered no proof that the leak came from a particular individual, who was in the media operations center. Her comments just made it clear the public affairs officer had adopted a posture toward the press that we were all suspects.

Evidence al-Qaida “received” WikiLeaks information permitted in Manning trial

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 17:32:00 +0000

On the first day of the latest round of pre-trial hearings in the Bradley Manning court martial proceedings, military judge Col. Denise Lind ruled that the government would be permitted to use evidence that al-Qaida and specifically Osama bin Laden "received" material published by WikiLeaks as a part of the prosecution's most serious charge -- that Manning "aided the enemy."

Reporting from the Fort Meade courtroom, Firedoglake's Kevin Gosztola noted, Lind "wholly rejected the arguments the defense had made that evidence involving receipt of information by al-Qaida or al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) would be prejudicial to proceedings."

However, Lind also ruled that the onus will be on the government to prove that Manning aided the enemy. As Gosztola reported:

Manning’s statement, straight from the detainee’s mouth

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 15:13:00 +0000

On Tuesday the recently-established Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) released in full an audio recording of Pfc. Bradley Manning's statement, read at his pretrial hearing, explaining the motivations behind leaking state secrets to Wikileaks. The audio recording provides the first ever opportunity to hear the voice of the soldier who has been held in military custody for over 1,000 days.

Glenn Greenwald, who sits on FPF's board, noted in the Guardian Tuesday, "One particularly oppressive rule governing the Manning trial has barred not only all video or audio recordings of the proceedings, but also any photographs being taken of Manning or even transcripts made of what is said in court. Combined with the prohibition on all press interviews with him, this extraordinary secrecy regime has meant that, in the two-and-a-half years since his arrest, the world has been prevented, literally, from hearing Manning's voice. That changes today."

Bradley Manning’s full statement

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 18:50:00 +0000

The statement below was read by Pfc. Bradley Manning at a providence inquiry for his formal plea of guilty to one specification as charged and nine specifications for lesser included offenses. He pled not guilty to 12 other specifications. This rush transcript was taken by journalist Alexa O'Brien at Thursday's pretrial hearing. O'Brien provided Salon with the full transcript.

Judge Lind: Pfc. Manning you may read your statement.

Pfc. Bradley Manning: Yes, your Honor. I wrote this statement in the confinement facility. The following facts are provided in support of the providence inquiry for my court martial, United States v. Pfc. Bradley E. Manning.

Personal Facts.

I am a 25-year-old Private First Class in the United States Army currently assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, HHC, U.S. Army Garrison (USAG), Joint Base Myer, Henderson Hall, Fort Meyer, Va.

Manning offers his plea

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:54:00 +0000

Updated, 12:50 p.m. EST: Manning is reading in full a 35-page statement that explains his decisions about leaking material to WikiLeaks. According to journalists reporting from the Fort Meade hearing, the whistle-blower is off camera in the feed streaming court proceedings to the media gallery.

In a striking revelation -- which many will see as significant indictment of the mainstream media -- Manning said that he had contacted both the New York Times and the Washington Post about the war logs before reaching out to WikiLeaks to leak the information.

"Manning said he talked to [a] person at WaPo who he did not think took him seriously when he described [the] war logs," tweeted Kevin Gosztola, following proceedings live. Manning also told the court he had planned to offer material, including the Collateral Murder video, to Politico but was unable to reach the publication's offices due to inclement weather.

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Original post: Pfc. Bradley Manning Thursday pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including being the source of a leak of state secrets to WikiLeaks. At his pretrial hearing at Fort Meade, Manning (through his attorney David Coombs) pleaded not guilty to the major charge that could see him serve life in prison -- "aiding the enemy."

Manning’s 1,001 day detention ruled “reasonable” length

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Last Sunday marked the 1,000th day Pfc. Bradley Manning had spent in military custody without trial. In an argument brought in front of a pretrial hearing in Fort Meade Monday, Manning's defense attempted to see the soldier's charges dropped on the grounds that his lengthy pretrial detention violated his constitutional rights. However, Judge Colonel Denise Lind ruled that Manning's detention period has been "reasonable."

As the Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported from the courtroom, Lind concluded "that the exceptional length of the case was almost entirely justified as a result of its uniquely complex and sensitive nature." Firedoglake's Kevin Gozstola, also reporting from the trial, called the judge's ruling (which she took nearly two hours to read) "a mind-numbing list of dates and government agency alphabet soup" -- minutiae as proof of the need to lock up the accused whistleblower for over two and a half years without trial.

Via Pilkington:

Marine commander: Quantico wasn’t prepared for Manning’s long detention

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 16:49:00 +0000

Retired Col. Daniel Choike, who served as the Quantico Marine brig commander while Pfc. Bradley Manning was imprisoned there for nine months, testified Tuesday in the soldier's pretrial hearing at Fort Meade.

"I didn't feel that Pfc. Manning should be detained more than 90 days in the brig," Choike told the hearing, recounting that he had conveyed the same view to his superior at the Pentagon when the accused whistle-blower arrived at the brig.

As Firedoglake's Kevin Gosztola reported from Fort Meade:

Choike gave over three hours of testimony from the witness stand. The most critical testimony probably came during Judge Army Col. Denise Lind’s line of questioning. She asked him about the Sanity Board that was to determine whether Manning was mentally fit to stand trial or not. It was having problems meeting and completing its work. Lind asked if he believed Quantico was adequately resourced to house someone of Manning’s stature.

Other maximum custody (MAX) detainees, the inability to predict the number of incoming detainees, downsizing and the fact that the Brig did not have “dedicated medical support” all made it difficult. Choike answered “no.” The Brig was not a place for long-term confinement. It was adequate for 90 days.