A look at whistleblowers charged under the Espionage Act

After the Obama administration promised it would “strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government,” it has since carried out an unprecedented campaign against federal government whistleblowers.

Since 2009, six government officials have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act, a World War I era act that had only been used three times before the current administration. The New York Times, ProPublica, The New Yorker, The Nation and others have all documented various aspects of the administration’s crackdown on whistleblowers.

This week, Bill Moyers’ site provides an overview of the six whistleblowers who have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act. The post accompanies this look at The War on Whistleblowers, a new documentary from filmmaker Robert Greenwald.