Everyday Erinyes #280

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”

I hope it’s no surprise to anyone here that I have a heart for whistleblowers (if it is a surprise, I haven’t been loud enough,, for which I apologize.) So, when I got an e-mail early this week from Roots Action, which sponsors The Project for Accountability (by whistleblowers, for whistleblowers) including an essay from Jeffrey Sterling – at roughly the same time that the advance warning for “Thank a Criminal Day” (today) – I knew what I had to feature this week.

Jeffrey is now in charge of The Project for Accountability (his official title is “coordinator.”) The Project for Accountability, like every other project undertaken to secure and/or enhance our freedoms, is dependent on donations. But that’s not what his essay is about. It’s about principle, personal sacrifice, the Espionage Act and the way it is still administered, the limitations of our justice system, and justice in general.
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This month marked another notch on the weapon that is the Espionage Act, as it continues to be misused by the Department of Justice. Drone whistleblower Daniel Hale was sentenced to spend 45 months in federal prison. Once again, so-called justice in this country will subject a person of truth to the desolate confines of prison, not out of the rule of law and justice, but out of a continuing desire to retaliate against those who dare stand up for truth and accountability in our government.

I know what Daniel must have felt standing there in front of a judge, not knowing what his fate would be. It is an indescribable sense of confusion and disbelief. There is no way to reconcile doing the right thing, telling the truth, and then being punished for doing so. I remember not knowing what “punishment” Judge Brinkema would feel appropriate for having the nerve to stand up against the CIA, Operation Merlin, and the Espionage Act. For her, 42 months was my damnation. Facing 10 years for each of the nine counts by which I was wrongfully convicted, I imagined being put behind bars for the rest of my life. In a way, I was surprised that she levied “only” 42. After all, the prosecution in my case labeled me a threat to and traitor of the very foundation and security of the nation. The nonsense, if not folly of it all became clear, the trial and the sentence had nothing to do with justice, they had more to do with revenge. The same applies to Daniel Hale receiving 45 months, certainly less than the nine years the prosecution was aiming for.

One moment behind bars for telling the truth is too much for any whistleblower. The injustice of how the Espionage Act is being used by the federal government is self-evident via the travesties inflicted upon Reality Winner, John Kiriakou, Terry Albury, Chelsea Manning, among others. In addition, even though he is not behind bars here in the U.S., make no mistake that Julian Assange is bearing the same heavy weight of being charged under the Espionage Act as the others. What makes it all even more unpalatable, is how differently whistleblowers are being treated from those who really are and have been threats to our national security. Daniel Hale is going to spend up to 45 months in prison for telling, and standing by the truth; the cowards who stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021 have been and are facing a different form of justice.

Just a week and a day prior to Hale’s sentencing, Paul Hodgkins became the first of the Jan. 6th insurrectionists to face sentencing; he received a scant eight months behind bars for his involvement with the deadly assault upon the Capitol. Of course, he pled guilty to a charge not indicative of the threat to this country that he and that mob represented, a single count of obstructing an official proceeding. In sentencing, Judge Randolph Moss commented, “It’s essential to send a message that this type of conduct is utterly unacceptable, and that grave damage was done to our country that day… But at the same time, I do not believe that Mr. Hodgkins, other than having made some very bad decisions that day… that he is a threat.” In addition, the judge added, “Although Mr. Hodgkins was only one member of a larger mob, he actively and intentionally participated in an event that threatened not only the security of the Capitol but democracy itself…” Hodgkins, for his actions commented that he was “truly remorseful and regretful… the way this country that I love has been hurt…”

In contrast, eight days later, Judge Liam O’Grady had these words to say during Hale’s sentencing: “You’re not facing prison for speaking out about the drone program injuring and killing innocent persons. … A majority of Americans would have commended you for coming forward… You could have been a whistleblower and garnered all this attention without leaking any of these documents, frankly.” O’Grady’s comments reflect what I believe is an intentional naivete regarding the realities for whistleblowers that federal Eastern District of Virginia judges continue to use as spurious rationalization when it comes to sentencing. Hale pointed out the realities through a handwritten, 11-page letter to Judge O’Grady explaining the trauma he witnessed and experienced as well as his motivation to speak out. Only speculation can determine if it had any impact on O’Grady and the sentence he handed down.

Both judges unequivocally sent the message that truth itself is not important, what matters is how it is revealed and by whom. Hale shed light on a truth that the U.S. government would prefer not to be revealed; Hodgkins and the Jan. 6th insurrectionists revealed a truth about this country that America is tolerant of. In other words, if you reveal a truth that is embarrassing to the U.S., the revenge to fall upon you will be terrible. However, if your actions don’t discomfit the U.S., you will face a different, more lenient form of justice, regardless of the danger presented. This is the truth about the lie that is “national security.” Hodgkins and the Jan. 6th insurrectionists posed a direct and real threat to national security, Hale was merely revealing a terrible truth about it.

True, both Hale and Hodgkins will spend time in federal prison, but my question is, with whom behind bars should we feel safer, Hodgkins or Hale? A 45-month sentence for Hale has nothing to do with justice, and everything to do with revenge and retaliation. A mere eight-month sentence for Hodgkins is justice defiled.

Justice cannot exist without truth. That an insurrectionist received a lesser sentence than a brave soul who revealed the war crimes being committed by his country shows how neither the prosecutions nor the sentences imposed had anything to do with justice. Without truth, justice is not blind, it is mutilated.

That Justice is a blind goddess
Is a thing to which we black are wise:
Her bandage hides two festering sores
That once perhaps were eyes.

― Langston Hughes

Despite what continues to take place against whistleblowers in this country and the world over, I continue to have hope that there will be a change, that truth will matter. I have encountered many frustrated Americans who feel that there will never be any meaningful change, and while I can understand such a fatalistic viewpoint, I am not sure I can believe in such sentimentality. I believe that change is inevitable, the timing of it depends on how badly it’s fought for. I feel in some small way, I am fighting for change regarding the issues that not only interest me but also those that have touched directly upon my life by reaching out to you and others with a perspective that may align with those who still believe that change is possible. Maybe, just maybe my words can spark a resonance that will lead to real change. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Jeffrey Sterling

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AMT, there are some minor details on which I disagree with Jeffrey. But the substance of his essay is absolutely right on the money. Speaking of money, I am never going to be a mega-donor (you can’t win the lottery if you don’t play), but I did make a small donation, in honor of Thank a Crimial Day, and because we need our whistleblowers. If anyoe else can, here is the link. I can’t gusrantee it won’t pre-fill, but if it does, it’s only my email address, and you all have that already – and it’s easily changed.

The Furies and I will be back.