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As soon as I read about him sending anonymous letters to foreign governments, divulging details of confidential operations, I thought "what is he thinking, indi
by ovi256 14y ago
As soon as I read about him sending anonymous letters to foreign governments, divulging details of confidential operations, I thought "what is he thinking, indictment for treason in 3, 2, 1". He really should have known better, especially given his experience serving in the Army, law enforcement, and then the CIA.
In the end, it was not surprising at all that the feds came down on him like a ton of bricks. It was surprising that he got a plea deal for a lesser sentence.
- DanielBMarkham 14y agoI was amazed he was able to push as hard as he was before the hammer came down. Seriously. Being a whistle-blower is one thing. Being a rogue canon playing fast and loose with national security so you can negotiate a better pension settlement is something else entirely.
- rdtsc 14y agoI think what he did could have passed had he not made it official by writing letters and sending them. I think he could have conveyed all this orally in an ambiguous enough way. The reason is that once this becomes official enough and "on the books" this kind of stuff would happen again. The real nightmare is not him doing it and getting way is every disgruntled agency employee doing it and then pointing fingers at this case saying "but you negotiated with him!". So I think he wasn't smart enough, he could have had a chance at this had he not stirred the waters that much. Another, general way of putting it, is that in large bureaucratic institutions (officially!) you never put your superiors in a position to make a new rule or break an existing rule.
- Herring 14y agoHis problems started earlier, I think. A red flag came up when I saw that he ticketed the fire chief (and got fired for his trouble). Then later he kept escalating some issue above his superiors, despite being warned that his career was on the line. The guy just doesn't know his place.
- samfoo 14y agoYes, if only more people knew "their place".
- Wistar 14y agoYes, Master, indeed.
- fkdjs 14y agoI would say he doesn't know how to play the game. How you play the game is you never break the rules while you make sure people know you're not the bitch. As the person above you said, he should have made vague threats. This is negotiation 101. Government wants leverage, former employee wants leverage. They have what he wants ($), he has what they want (information).
- smutticus 14y agoLast time I checked this was Hacker News. One of the commonly accepted meanings of 'hacker' is someone who challenges the existing order and power structures. You won't find many friends here with this attitude.
- andy_boot 14y agoLast time I checked this article was about the CIA. One of the commonly accepted jobs of 'CIA' is someone who maintains the existing order and power structures. You won't make many friends in he CIA if you go against it.
- Gustomaximus 14y agoThe consultant card was a nice one to play. He should have stuck with that. Divulging information of an operation to a target... that shows real bitterness and someone that is not thinking big picture. I was waiting for him to just disappear at that point and the article would ends with 'no-one knows where he is'. I'm guessing we can read it all about it in a book in a year or 2.