Whistleblowers: Traitors or Heroes? Examining Key Figures Who Leaked US Government Secrets

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Daniel Ellsberg’s bold decision to disclose a classified Defense Department study known as the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War era presented a contentious perception of him as both a traitor in the eyes of the White House and a revered hero among war opponents.

Similar assessments have been applied to individuals who exposed confidential information they believed showcased official misconduct, though the public’s perception of more recent figures remains a subject of debate. Here are a few notable examples of individuals who leaked government secrets:

W. MARK FELT

Felt, an FBI associate director known as “Deep Throat,” shared crucial information about the Watergate break-in with The Washington Post during the 1970s.

Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers leak indirectly contributed to the Watergate scandal. Outraged by the exposure of the study, President Nixon authorized an effort to gather damaging information on Ellsberg, resulting in operatives linked to the White House breaking into Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office. Months later, five individuals associated with the White House were caught attempting to break into Democratic Party offices at the Watergate complex.

A senior FBI official, Felt offered guidance to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein as they investigated the burglary and subsequent cover-up. Eventually, their work, alongside congressional investigations, revealed Nixon’s involvement, leading to his resignation.

Felt’s anonymous persona as “Deep Throat” became an iconic part of the film “All the President’s Men.” In 2005, shortly before his death in 2008, Felt unveiled his identity.

EDWARD SNOWDEN

Snowden, aged 39, exposed the secret mass surveillance programs of U.S. intelligence agencies, sparking a national discourse on privacy and national security.

While working as a contractor and systems engineer at the National Security Agency (NSA), Snowden revealed how the NSA collected extensive data from American telecommunications companies and spied on Washington’s allied leaders, among other revelations.

After collaborating on the initial stories in 2013, Snowden departed Hong Kong for Moscow, intending to eventually reach Ecuador. However, the U.S. government revoked his passport, leading to his extended stay in a Moscow airport. Eventually settling in Moscow, he has remotely addressed global audiences on civil liberties and privacy. The U.S. Justice Department, during the Obama administration, charged him with espionage and theft, a case that remains active today.

Presently, Snowden remains in Russia, having obtained Russian citizenship last year. Critics often point to his decision to stay in Russia as evidence of damage to national security, challenging his classification as a hero.

In a Twitter message on Friday, Snowden noted that Ellsberg had aimed to spend his final hours working towards reducing the risk of nuclear conflict, honoring him as a hero until the end.

CHELSEA MANNING

Manning, aged 35, leaked over 700,000 documents to the WikiLeaks website while working as an intelligence analyst in Iraq in 2010.

The leaked materials encompassed State Department cables and classified footage showing a U.S. helicopter attack that resulted in the deaths of Iraqi men, including two Reuters journalists.

Manning faced a military court conviction for violating the Espionage Act, receiving a 35-year prison sentence. However, her sentence was commuted by President Obama shortly before leaving office in January 2017.

Subsequently, she endured over a year of imprisonment for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating WikiLeaks.

REALITY WINNER

Winner, aged 31, leaked a classified report regarding Russian government attempts to infiltrate voting software ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. She printed a copy of the report at an NSA office in Georgia and mailed it to a news outlet.

Though the specific outlet was never explicitly disclosed, Winner’s arrest was announced by the Justice Department in June 2017, coinciding with The Intercept’s publication of a top-secret NSA document related to Russian hacking.

Winner pleaded guilty in 2018 to transmitting national security information and received a five-year sentence, being released early in June 2021.

Note: The information provided is based on the knowledge available up until September 2021.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about whistleblowers

More about whistleblowers

• Daniel Ellsberg – Wikipedia
• Watergate scandal – Wikipedia
• W. Mark Felt – Wikipedia
• Edward Snowden – Wikipedia
• Chelsea Manning – Wikipedia
• Reality Winner – Wikipedia
• Pentagon Papers – Wikipedia
• Espionage Act – Wikipedia
• WikiLeaks – Official Website