Daniel Hale
Awards

Daniel Everette Hale (born August 1, 1987)[1][2] is an American whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst who sent classified information about drone warfare to the press.[3][4][5][6][7] Hale served in the United States Air Force 2009–2013 before joining the National Security Agency and leaking classified documents to The Intercept. In 2021, he pled guilty to retaining and transmitting national defense information and was sentenced to 45 months in prison. As of October 2021, he was incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois, with a scheduled release date of July 5, 2024.[8]

Government service

Hale served in the United States Air Force from July 2009 to July 2013. He was an enlisted airman. In 2013, he was assigned to the NSA and the Joint Special Operations Command at Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, where he helped identify targets for assassination.[9] In February 2014, after leaving the Air Force and becoming a contractor at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Hale leaked 17 classified documents to The Intercept.[10][11] The documents contained details about U.S. kill lists and civilian casualties of drone strikes,[12] and in some cases revealed actions that, if proven, would amount to war crimes.[13] Over one five-month period covered by the documents, nearly 90 percent of the people killed in U.S. drone strikes were not the intended targets. In an article published by Truthout, Marjorie Cohn wrote that "civilian bystanders were nonetheless classified as 'enemies killed in action' unless proven otherwise."[14][15] The documents formed the basis of a series of articles, the "Drone Papers", published by The Intercept in October 2015.[16]

Government investigation and prosecution

On August 8, 2014, the FBI raided his home in Lorton, Virginia, in what he described as retribution for his political activism. In 2016, he appeared in the documentary film National Bird, where he described his crisis of conscience and the FBI raid.[17]

In 2019, Hale was charged with disclosing intelligence information and theft of government property. He was arraigned in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. In March 2021, he pleaded guilty to retaining and transmitting national defense information.[11] On July 27, 2021, citing the need to deter others from disclosing government secrets, U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady sentenced Hale to 45 months in prison for violating the Espionage Act of 1917. "You are not being prosecuted for speaking out about the drone program killing innocent people", O'Grady told Hale. "You could have been a whistleblower ... without taking any of these documents."[18] In court, Hale said he accepted punishment for taking the documents, and for taking innocent lives during his participation in the drone program. Noting that he is a descendant of Nathan Hale, executed for spying on the British for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Hale paraphrased his ancestor's reported last words, saying, "I have but this one life to give in service of my country."[18]

Incarceration

Following sentencing, Hale was transferred from Alexandria City Jail to temporary confinement at Northern Neck Regional Jail in Virginia to await further disposition.[19] In early October 2021, Hale was transferred to a communications management unit in the United States Penitentiary, Marion, Illinois.[20][21]

In August 2021 he received the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence, eponymously named for a Vietnam War-era whistleblower, for "performing a vital public service at great personal cost—imprisonment for truth-telling".[22][23] Later that month, U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) wrote to President Biden requesting a full pardon or commutation of sentence for Hale.[22]

Publications

References

  1. ^ "Letter Writing Party for Daniel Hale". July 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "Former Intelligence Analyst Charged with Disclosing Classified Information" (Press release). United States Department of Justice. May 9, 2019. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  3. ^ Swaine, Jon (May 9, 2019). "Ex-NSA official charged with leaking classified drone documents". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  4. ^ Emmons, Alex (May 6, 2021). "Drone Whistleblower Daniel Hale Jailed Ahead of Sentencing". The Intercept. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  5. ^ David Shortell (May 17, 2019). "Former intel analyst pleads not guilty to leaking secret documents". CNN. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  6. ^ Goldman, Adam (May 9, 2019). "Ex-Intelligence Analyst Charged With Leaking Information to a Reporter". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  7. ^ Devereaux, Ryan (December 8, 2021). "Daniel Hale Receives International Whistleblower Award for Drone Document Leak". The Intercept. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  8. ^ Find An Inmate, United States Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
  9. ^ Goodman, Amy (July 26, 2021). ""Committing the Truth": Whistleblower Daniel Hale to Be Sentenced Tuesday for Drone Program Leaks". Democracy Now!. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  10. ^ Hedges, Chris (July 27, 2021). "Hedges: The Price of Conscience". Scheerpost. Archived from the original on July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 28, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Barnes, Julian E. (July 27, 2021). "Ex-Intelligence Analyst Is Sentenced for Leaking to a Reporter". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  12. ^ Newman, Ed, ed. (July 23, 2021). "Biden administration seeks 9-year sentence for drone whistleblower Daniel Hale". Radio Havana Cuba. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  13. ^ Bowcott, Owen (June 21, 2012). "Drone strikes threaten 50 years of international law, says UN rapporteur". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 26, 2021. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  14. ^ Marjorie Cohn (July 28, 2021). "Drone Whistleblower Gets 45 Months in Prison for Revealing Ongoing US War Crimes". Truthout. Wikidata Q110095624.
  15. ^ Gibbons, Chip (May 8, 2021). "Daniel Hale Went to Prison for Telling the Truth About US Drone Warfare". jacobin.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  16. ^ "The Drone Papers". The Intercept. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  17. ^ Gibbons, Chip (April 10, 2021). "Daniel Hale Blew the Whistle on the US's Illegal Drone Program. He's a Hero, Not a Criminal". Jacobin. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  18. ^ a b Weiner, Rachel (July 27, 2021). "Daniel Hale, who leaked information on U.S. drone warfare, sentenced to 45 months in prison". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  19. ^ "Stand with Daniel Hale". July 31, 2021. Archived from the original on July 31, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
  20. ^ "Latest Updates". Stand With Daniel Hale. October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  21. ^ "Bureau Of Prisons Treats Drone Whistleblower Like A Terrorist". The Dissenter. October 18, 2021. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
  22. ^ a b Weiner, Rachel (August 26, 2021). "Lawmaker wants pardon for Daniel Hale, who leaked drone secrets". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  23. ^ "Drone Warfare Whistleblower Daniel Hale Honored with Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence". Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence. August 23, 2021. Retrieved August 23, 2021.

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