SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
The story of the CIA's Jeffrey Scudder reveals what happens to people in the intelligence community who use so-called "proper procedures" to disclose information. (Image: UNL News Blog)
In the controversy surrounding Edward Snowden's decision to leak numerous classified National Security Agency documents, one of the repeated critiques levied by his critics is that the former intelligence contractor should have gone through "propper channels" to voice his concerns about the agency's far-reaching--and what he judged unlawful--surveillance practices.
However, according to new reporting by the Washington Post's Greg Miller, a similarly concerned CIA agent who attempted to get information he thought the public had a right to know discovered just how difficult and perilous efforts to "work within the system" can be.
Miller's report tells the tale of Jeffrey Scudder, a veteran CIA employee, whose career faltered after he made efforts to have long-classified agency materials--"a stack of articles, hundreds of histories of long-dormant conflicts and operations"--released to the public.
As part of his effort, Scudder submitted a completely lawful Freedom of Information Act request, which set off a "harrowing sequence" of events. According to Miller, Scudder "was confronted by supervisors and accused of mishandling classified information while assembling his FOIA request. His house was raided by the FBI and his family's computers seized." The fifty-one-year ultimately resigned after being threatened that if he did not, he risked losing portions of his pension.
"I submitted a FOIA and it basically destroyed my entire career," Scudder told the Post in an interview. "What was this whole exercise for?"
What happened to Scudder, Miller points out,
highlights the risks to workers who take on their powerful spy-agency employers. Senior U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly argued that Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, should have done more to raise his concerns internally rather than exposing America's espionage secrets to the world. Others who tried to do that have said they were punished.
Scudder's actions appear to have posed no perceptible risk to national security, but he found himself in the cross hairs of the CIA and FBI.
As journalist Glenn Greenwald noted in response to the article:
______________________________
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
In the controversy surrounding Edward Snowden's decision to leak numerous classified National Security Agency documents, one of the repeated critiques levied by his critics is that the former intelligence contractor should have gone through "propper channels" to voice his concerns about the agency's far-reaching--and what he judged unlawful--surveillance practices.
However, according to new reporting by the Washington Post's Greg Miller, a similarly concerned CIA agent who attempted to get information he thought the public had a right to know discovered just how difficult and perilous efforts to "work within the system" can be.
Miller's report tells the tale of Jeffrey Scudder, a veteran CIA employee, whose career faltered after he made efforts to have long-classified agency materials--"a stack of articles, hundreds of histories of long-dormant conflicts and operations"--released to the public.
As part of his effort, Scudder submitted a completely lawful Freedom of Information Act request, which set off a "harrowing sequence" of events. According to Miller, Scudder "was confronted by supervisors and accused of mishandling classified information while assembling his FOIA request. His house was raided by the FBI and his family's computers seized." The fifty-one-year ultimately resigned after being threatened that if he did not, he risked losing portions of his pension.
"I submitted a FOIA and it basically destroyed my entire career," Scudder told the Post in an interview. "What was this whole exercise for?"
What happened to Scudder, Miller points out,
highlights the risks to workers who take on their powerful spy-agency employers. Senior U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly argued that Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, should have done more to raise his concerns internally rather than exposing America's espionage secrets to the world. Others who tried to do that have said they were punished.
Scudder's actions appear to have posed no perceptible risk to national security, but he found himself in the cross hairs of the CIA and FBI.
As journalist Glenn Greenwald noted in response to the article:
______________________________
In the controversy surrounding Edward Snowden's decision to leak numerous classified National Security Agency documents, one of the repeated critiques levied by his critics is that the former intelligence contractor should have gone through "propper channels" to voice his concerns about the agency's far-reaching--and what he judged unlawful--surveillance practices.
However, according to new reporting by the Washington Post's Greg Miller, a similarly concerned CIA agent who attempted to get information he thought the public had a right to know discovered just how difficult and perilous efforts to "work within the system" can be.
Miller's report tells the tale of Jeffrey Scudder, a veteran CIA employee, whose career faltered after he made efforts to have long-classified agency materials--"a stack of articles, hundreds of histories of long-dormant conflicts and operations"--released to the public.
As part of his effort, Scudder submitted a completely lawful Freedom of Information Act request, which set off a "harrowing sequence" of events. According to Miller, Scudder "was confronted by supervisors and accused of mishandling classified information while assembling his FOIA request. His house was raided by the FBI and his family's computers seized." The fifty-one-year ultimately resigned after being threatened that if he did not, he risked losing portions of his pension.
"I submitted a FOIA and it basically destroyed my entire career," Scudder told the Post in an interview. "What was this whole exercise for?"
What happened to Scudder, Miller points out,
highlights the risks to workers who take on their powerful spy-agency employers. Senior U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly argued that Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, should have done more to raise his concerns internally rather than exposing America's espionage secrets to the world. Others who tried to do that have said they were punished.
Scudder's actions appear to have posed no perceptible risk to national security, but he found himself in the cross hairs of the CIA and FBI.
As journalist Glenn Greenwald noted in response to the article:
______________________________