Edward Snowden is displayed on a screen as he speaks during a video conference on September 17, 2019 in Berlin. (Photo: Jorg Carstensen/DPA/AFP via Getty Images)
Oct 23, 2019
Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed, if elected president in 2020, to break with both the Trump and Obama administrations by refusing to use the repressive, century-old Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, a stance that was applauded by press freedom advocates and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
In an interview with The Intercept's Ryan Grim released Tuesday, Sanders condemned President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the Ukraine whistleblower and emphasized the crucial role whistleblowers play in the political process.
Asked if the Espionage Act of 1917 should be used against those who raise the alarm about government wrongdoing, Sanders said, "Of course not."
"The law is very clear: Whistleblowers have a very important role to play in the political process and I am very supportive of the courage of that whistleblower, whoever he or she may be," Sanders said of the individual who filed the complaint about Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Watch:
Grim pointed out that the 1917 law "had largely gone out of fashion until it was deployed heavily by the Obama administration, which prosecuted eight people accused of leaking to the media under the Espionage Act, more than all previous presidents combined."
"President Donald Trump is on pace to break Barack Obama's record if he gets a second term," Grim wrote. "He has prosecuted eight such whistleblowers, five of them using the Espionage Act, according to the Press Freedom Tracker."
Former U.S. Army private Chelsea Manning, currently behind bars for refusing to testify before a secretive grand jury, was prosecuted by the Obama administration for Espionage Act violations and served seven years in prison before Obama commuted her sentence at the end of his presidency.
Manning released classified information to WikiLeaks, whose founder and publisher, Julian Assange, has been indicted by the Trump administration for espionage.
Last year, NSA whistleblower Reality Winner was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for Espionage Act violations after leaking classified information.
Progressives hailed Sanders' pledge to end the use of the Espionage Act against whistleblowers as a potential "sea-change" and urged other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to follow his lead.
Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called Sanders' vow "the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far."
\u201cKudos to Bernie, this is the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far. Hopefully this will force others to follow.\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1571777106
Snowden--who, like Manning and Winner, was charged with Espionage Act violations--tweeted a simple response to Sanders's pledge: "Whoa."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Our Summer Campaign is now underway, and there’s never been a more urgent time for Common Dreams to be as vigilant as possible. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed, if elected president in 2020, to break with both the Trump and Obama administrations by refusing to use the repressive, century-old Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, a stance that was applauded by press freedom advocates and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
In an interview with The Intercept's Ryan Grim released Tuesday, Sanders condemned President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the Ukraine whistleblower and emphasized the crucial role whistleblowers play in the political process.
Asked if the Espionage Act of 1917 should be used against those who raise the alarm about government wrongdoing, Sanders said, "Of course not."
"The law is very clear: Whistleblowers have a very important role to play in the political process and I am very supportive of the courage of that whistleblower, whoever he or she may be," Sanders said of the individual who filed the complaint about Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Watch:
Grim pointed out that the 1917 law "had largely gone out of fashion until it was deployed heavily by the Obama administration, which prosecuted eight people accused of leaking to the media under the Espionage Act, more than all previous presidents combined."
"President Donald Trump is on pace to break Barack Obama's record if he gets a second term," Grim wrote. "He has prosecuted eight such whistleblowers, five of them using the Espionage Act, according to the Press Freedom Tracker."
Former U.S. Army private Chelsea Manning, currently behind bars for refusing to testify before a secretive grand jury, was prosecuted by the Obama administration for Espionage Act violations and served seven years in prison before Obama commuted her sentence at the end of his presidency.
Manning released classified information to WikiLeaks, whose founder and publisher, Julian Assange, has been indicted by the Trump administration for espionage.
Last year, NSA whistleblower Reality Winner was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for Espionage Act violations after leaking classified information.
Progressives hailed Sanders' pledge to end the use of the Espionage Act against whistleblowers as a potential "sea-change" and urged other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to follow his lead.
Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called Sanders' vow "the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far."
\u201cKudos to Bernie, this is the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far. Hopefully this will force others to follow.\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1571777106
Snowden--who, like Manning and Winner, was charged with Espionage Act violations--tweeted a simple response to Sanders's pledge: "Whoa."
Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed, if elected president in 2020, to break with both the Trump and Obama administrations by refusing to use the repressive, century-old Espionage Act to prosecute whistleblowers, a stance that was applauded by press freedom advocates and former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
In an interview with The Intercept's Ryan Grim released Tuesday, Sanders condemned President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on the Ukraine whistleblower and emphasized the crucial role whistleblowers play in the political process.
Asked if the Espionage Act of 1917 should be used against those who raise the alarm about government wrongdoing, Sanders said, "Of course not."
"The law is very clear: Whistleblowers have a very important role to play in the political process and I am very supportive of the courage of that whistleblower, whoever he or she may be," Sanders said of the individual who filed the complaint about Trump's call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Watch:
Grim pointed out that the 1917 law "had largely gone out of fashion until it was deployed heavily by the Obama administration, which prosecuted eight people accused of leaking to the media under the Espionage Act, more than all previous presidents combined."
"President Donald Trump is on pace to break Barack Obama's record if he gets a second term," Grim wrote. "He has prosecuted eight such whistleblowers, five of them using the Espionage Act, according to the Press Freedom Tracker."
Former U.S. Army private Chelsea Manning, currently behind bars for refusing to testify before a secretive grand jury, was prosecuted by the Obama administration for Espionage Act violations and served seven years in prison before Obama commuted her sentence at the end of his presidency.
Manning released classified information to WikiLeaks, whose founder and publisher, Julian Assange, has been indicted by the Trump administration for espionage.
Last year, NSA whistleblower Reality Winner was sentenced to five years and three months in prison for Espionage Act violations after leaking classified information.
Progressives hailed Sanders' pledge to end the use of the Espionage Act against whistleblowers as a potential "sea-change" and urged other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to follow his lead.
Trevor Timm, executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called Sanders' vow "the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far."
\u201cKudos to Bernie, this is the most important stance any candidate has taken affecting press freedom so far. Hopefully this will force others to follow.\u201d— Trevor Timm (@Trevor Timm) 1571777106
Snowden--who, like Manning and Winner, was charged with Espionage Act violations--tweeted a simple response to Sanders's pledge: "Whoa."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.