Biden's Legacy: Fundamentally Changing Nothing For Whistleblowers

Editor's Note: The following is the third in a series of articles on President Joe Biden's legacy when it comes to press freedom, whistleblowing, and government secrecy. The series began in November, and the final article in the series will be published next week.

When Joe Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama, he was part of an administration that waged an unprecedented war on leaks.

President Biden may not have been as zealous as Obama, however, he periodically harnessed the very machinery that Obama and President Donald Trump wielded to enforce secrecy and silence whistleblowers.

With the Espionage Act, the Obama Justice Department prosecuted more United States government employees and contractors who disclosed information to the press than all previous presidents combined. The Trump Justice Department continued this practice and used the 1917 law to punish NSA whistleblower Reality Winner, FBI whistleblower Terry Albury, and drone whistleblower Daniel Hale.

Biden inherited the Espionage Act prosecution against Hale. Despite the fact that Obama Justice Department officials were unwilling to charge Hale with a crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland and officials in the Biden Justice Department’s National Security Division fully embraced the case that was launched by Trump.

Read the full article at The Dissenter