DEARBORN — Two former whistleblowers from the National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigations spoke about the ongoing threat of American civil liberties being jeopardized in the name of national security on Mar. 23 at the Muslim Legal Fund of America Michigan chapter’s first gala. The event was hosted at the Adoba Dearborn Hotel. 

“How much freedom do we let disappear for the sake of security?” said Thomas Drake, former senior executive for the NSA.  Drake gained national attention when he became an outspoken critic and whistleblower of the NSA’s Trailblazer Project, a project designed to analyze data carried on communication networks. Drake says the project violated privacy protections. His home was raided by the FBI, and he was indicted by a grand jury. 

Coleen Rowley.

Coleen Rowley is a former FBI special agent who was named one of Time Magazine’s 2002 Persons of the Year for her whistleblowing on pre-9/11 lapses in the FBI investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui. She testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about some of the issues facing the FBI and the intelligence community. She eventually retired from the FBI and is currently committed to advocating for peace and civil liberties.  Coleen said she joined the agency because she felt sstrongly about justice being served. “I told the truth about these lapses,” Rowley said. 

Drake says what he experienced for five years is something he doesn’t want anyone to go through.  He said the United States government chose after 9/11 to willfully and deliberately violate the fourth amendment, and he couldn’t remain silent about it. 

Thomas Drake.

He said the Department of Justice did everything it could to put him away, and he was being threatened by officials for not cooperating with their investigation. 

Drake says a chief prosecutor told him he could spend the rest of his life in prison, because he exposed government criminal behavior.  

The whole case weighed heavily, not only on Drake emotionally but also financially. He said his lawyer charged $550 an hour,  but he managed to get the cost down to $500 an hour, and he had to empty out most of his retirement fund, and it still wasn’t enough.  It was also difficult for him to find an attorney to represent him, because many law firms had clients with close ties to the government.  He says in the end the whole case wasn’t about him, but rather defending the U.S. Constitution.   “We no longer live in the land of the free, my freedoms were being taken from me. There’s people in this community suffering far worse than I am,” he said. 

The MLFA is continuing its mission of defending the civil liberties of Muslim Americans who are facing discrimination and injustice in today’s 9/11 era, but can’t do it without the support of the community.  To donate to the MLFA visit MLFA.org.