What’s it like to celebrate Thanksgiving outside of prison walls for the first time in four years?
Below is an illuminating new letter from CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, who asked us to send it along to you -- with his deep appreciation for the wide range of support that so many people provided during his long ordeal of imprisonment.
Jeffrey went to prison in mid-2015, after prosecution that BBC News called “trial by metadata.” Now, he says, “I would like to address
the need for accountability of power.”
You can help Jeffrey do that by supporting his new work as the coordinator of The Project for Accountability. You’ll
give him a lift with the project if you
make a tax-deductible donation in support of this exciting new venture.
The RootsAction Education Fund is sponsoring this project for the same reason that we’ve actively supported Jeffrey for the last four years, while he withstood the vengeful weight of the “national security” state.
Jeffrey infuriated powerful CIA officials when he sued the agency for racial discrimination, and later when he went through channels to tell Senate Intelligence Committee staffers about a botched and dangerous covert operation by the CIA. In retaliation,
the CIA unleashed its unaccountable power against Jeffrey.
You can help The Project for Accountability if you click here and make a tax-deductible contribution. Half of every dollar you donate will go directly to Jeffrey as he works to rebuild his life, while the other half will go to sustaining his project.
If you don’t already know about Jeffrey’s real-life nightmare of harassment, legal threats and persecution by the CIA hierarchy and the Justice Department, please take a look at the Background information we link to at the bottom of this email.
We plan to keep you informed about Jeffrey’s future radio and TV interviews, speaking tours and articles. But for all of that to happen, we need to build The Project for Accountability. A
tax-deductible donation of whatever you can afford would be greatly appreciated.
Here is the new letter to you from Jeffrey Sterling:_____________________________
Thanksgiving, above all, is a time for reflection, to look back and on the aspects of our lives that we cherish and have enriched our lives. This was a most exciting Thanksgiving for me this year because I had and have so much to be thankful for.
This year, I couldn't help but reflect on my last three Thanksgivings as they were all spent in a federal prison, far away from my home and loved ones. During those difficult years, I thought I had nothing to be thankful for, I was after all sitting in prison.
However, and particularly on those seeming bleak days in November, I was reminded of what I had to truly be thankful for. There was my faithful and determined wife Holly, our family and friends who stuck by our sides during the ordeal of being persecuted by my government, and there was the support from so many who expressed solidarity, outrage and compassion for me and my plight.
That benevolence gave me hope when I had none. And only through that hope so wonderfully bolstered by so many, I spent Thanksgiving at home ever grateful and ever hopeful. So, this year, when I looked back, I knew and felt a tremendous feeling of the meaning of Thanksgiving.
Looking forward, I continue to be excited about what can be done with this project for accountability. One area that can be addressed is calling attention to the abusive and disingenuous use of the Espionage Act by the government. Time and again and never more so than demonstrated in my trial, the government has been using the ancient Espionage Act not as a means of combating treasonous actions that truly endanger our national security, but as a tool to quash voices of dissent and accountability.
The dubious nature of the Espionage Act is quite evident in the disparagement in its use. While the Department of Justice is quick to turn to the archaic law to fuel the ongoing witch hunt against whistleblowers, the same prosecutorial enthusiasm does not apply to transgressors in higher levels of government whose indiscretions with classified information pose a far greater threat to national security.
For individuals like General Petraeus, Sandy Berger, John Deutch, General Cartwright and a whole host of others, violations of national security result only in probation to lesser charges and presidential pardons among other slaps on the wrist. For the less powerful, the gauntlet of supposed treason is lowered with the Espionage Act. It is time the Department of Justice is prevented from using the Espionage Act as a hammer against lower-level voices of dissent and as a trump card or panacea to hide governmental ills and improprieties.
The dangers of this unchecked governmental aggression are no more evident than in the ruthless prosecution of whistleblowers. The list of whistleblowers targeted with the Espionage Act continues to grow.
The latest Espionage Act aggression tragedy is Terry Albury. Terry took a brave stand to reveal improprieties at the FBI, and for this he is bound for prison; he will spend his next Thanksgiving much the same way as I had, a victim of the government and country he wanted to serve. Terry will need the same support I received so he too can find hope, especially during the holidays.
If more light is shone on the Espionage Act and its misuse, change can happen. The law should be accountable to and for the people and not the exclusive province of a government that has things to hide. I hope this project for accountability can be a spark to bring much needed light where light is sorely needed.
Jeffrey Sterling
December 7, 2018_____________________________
PS from the RootsAction Education Fund team:Jeffrey’s initial work on The Project for Accountability will include
telling the American people and the entire world about what happened to him -- and about his refusal to knuckle under to illegitimate power. This all-too-true story
can help strengthen a wide range of whistleblowers -- past, present and future.
You can help make that happen with a tax-deductible donation of any amount.
Please do what you can to
support Jeffrey’s new work as coordinator of The Project for Accountability.
Thank you!
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--- The RootsAction Education Fund team
Background:
>>
BBC News: "Jeffrey Sterling's Trial by Metadata">>
John Kiriakou: “CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling Placed in Solitary Confinement”>>
ExposeFacts: Special Coverage of the Jeffrey Sterling Trial>>
Marcy Wheeler, ExposeFacts: "Sterling Verdict Another Measure of Declining Government Credibility on Secrets">>
Norman Solomon, The Nation: "CIA Officer Jeffrey Sterling Sentenced to Prison: The Latest Blow in the Government's War on Journalism">>
Reporters Without Borders: "Jeffrey Sterling Latest Victim of the U.S.' War on Whistleblowers">>
AFP: "Pardon Sought for Ex-CIA Officer in Leak Case">>
Documentary film: "The Invisible Man: CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling"
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