An Open Letter to
Edward Snowden

I had only been in prison a few months when Edward Snowden revealed to the world evidence that the National Security Agency had violated US law and its own charter by collecting telephone metadata and emails from American citizens. I thought this was an outrageous affront to American civil liberties, and I followed the case closely.

I could hardly believe my ears when the Snowden news broke. One could not underestimate the importance of what Snowden had done. NSA’s charter—and US law—forbade the NSA from spying on Americans, not only American citizens but US “persons.” That is, the law also protected foreign nationals living in the US as resident aliens, or green card holders.

The more information that was published, the more I thought that Snowden had performed a great national service. Plainly said, Americans would have had no idea that their government was spying on them had Snowden not gone public. I will admit that I thought there were some things he shouldn’t have said. For example, the NSA is supposed to spy on foreign leaders. I want them to do that. If spying on foreign leaders helps us to formulate our own policy or to get a leg up in trade negotiations, then great. But overall, Snowden revealed government illegality on a massive scale.

There was even more to think about in the immediate aftermath of the Snowden disclosures. The most important thing was “what would happen to Edward Snowden?” I knew from my own experience that the government would seek to try Snowden in the Eastern District of Virginia (EDVA), the so-called Espionage Court. This is despite the fact that Snowden was living and working in Hawaii at the time of his disclosures and NSA is located in rural Maryland, not in the Eastern District of Virginia.

That’s where my case was heard, and I knew firsthand that Snowden wouldn’t have a prayer there. The Justice Department will frequently “shop” for a friendly court, and on national security matters none is friendlier than EDVA. Besides judges who come down hard on leaks no matter what the motivation, juries can be largely made up of current or retired CIA, FBI, and Defense Department officers. A whistleblower like Snowden wouldn’t have a chance.

When I read in The New York Times a week or so later that Snowden had said that Tom Drake and I had inspired him to come forward, I sent him a detailed private letter. He had to look out for himself. Nobody else would.

This was the open letter:

Dear Ed:

Thank you for your revelations of government wrongdoing over the past week. You have done the country a great public service. I know that it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now, but as Americans begin to realize that we are devolving into a police state, with the loss of civil liberties that entails, they will see your actions for what they are: heroic. Remember the immortal words of Abraham Lincoln: “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” That is what’s happening to our country now. Your whistleblowing will help to save us.

I wanted to offer you the benefit of my own whistleblowing experience and aftermath so that you don’t make the same mistakes that I made.

First, find the best national security attorneys money can buy. I was blessed to be represented by legal titans and, although I was forced to take a plea in the end, the shortness of my sentence is a testament to their expertise.

Second, establish a website so that your supporters can follow your case, get your side of the story, and, most importantly, make donations to support your defense.

Third, you’re going to need the support of prominent Americans and groups who can explain to the public why what you did is so important. Although most members of Congress are mindless lemmings following our national security leadership over a cliff, there are several clear thinkers on the Hill who could be important sources of support. Cultivate them. Reach out to the American Civil Liberties Union, the Government Accountability Project and others like them who value our individual freedoms and who can advise you.

Finally, and this is the most important advice that I can offer, DO NOT, under any circumstances, cooperate with the FBI. FBI agents will lie, trick, and deceive you. They will twist your words and play on your patriotism to entrap you. They will pretend to be people they are not—supporters, well-wishers, and friends—all the while wearing wires to record your out-of-context statements to use against you. The FBI is the enemy; it’s a part of the problem, not the solution.

I wish you the very best of luck. I hope you can get to Iceland quickly and safely. There you will find a people and a government who care about the freedoms that we hold dear and for which our forefathers and veterans fought and died.

Sincerely,
John Kiriakou

The Huffington Post picked up my open letter, and from there it went viral, appearing in stories on all the major broadcast networks, as well as on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, BBC, and Al Jazeera. It hit the newspapers a day later, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. By the end of the week it was in the magazines, including The Economist, Esquire, GQ, Time, and even Playboy. I even received a friendly, supportive, and grateful letter from Ed Snowden’s father. I would certainly remain relevant on this issue.