Greenwald: White House leaks for propaganda film

[struggle4progress]

28. Let's look at some of Greenwald's tiresome BS

How about the Thomas Drake case?

The FBI first raided Drake's home in 2007, somewhat before Obama was elected President. The eventual prosecutor came into position earlier that year.

... In November 2007, there was a raid on Drake's residence. His computers, documents, and books were confiscated. He was never charged with giving any sensitive information to anyone; the charge actually brought against him is for 'retaining' information ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Andrews_Drake#2007_FBI_raids

... The government argues that Drake recklessly endangered the lives of American servicemen. “This is not an issue of benign documents,” William M. Welch II, the senior litigation counsel who is prosecuting the case, argued at a hearing in March, 2010 ...
The Secret Sharer
Is Thomas Drake an enemy of the state?
by Jane Mayer May 23, 2011
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/05/23/110523fa_fact_mayer

... Welch has headed the unit since March 2007 ...
William Welch, head of Justice Department's anti-corruption unit, to leave post
William M. Welch II has led the public integrity unit since 2007.
By Carrie Johnson
Thursday, October 22, 2009
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/21/AR2009102101899.html

So this is an investigation that began before Obama ever took office.

How about Jeffrey Sterling?

... Between 2002 and 2004 the U.S. federal government intercepted several interstate emails to and from Sterling, which were &quot ...) routed through a server located in the Eastern District of Virginia (...)". The authorities also traced telephone calls between Sterling and - according to a senior government official - the journalist and book author James Risen. In the intercepted communications Sterling allegedly revealed national defense information to an unauthorized person ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Alexander_Sterling

So there's another investigation that began before Obama ever took office.

It's actually fine with me if Greenwald disagrees with the prosecutions; I might well disagree with some of them myself, especially since I've never been a fan of such Reagan-era innovations as the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. But, as usual, Greenwald's discussion is nauseatingly dishonest and (what is perhaps worse) entirely uninformative: one learns nothing about the dynamics of power from Greenwald and so gains no insights into how we might fight back -- unsurprising, since Greenwald is a libertarian ideologue who does essentially no independent research and hence really cannot be expected to inform us