Silenced Page #9

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doing the perp walk

in front of

all the neighborhood moms

and, you know, having to go

in the police car and be booked.

all of this stuff would

really, like, be in my mind,

and i couldn't turn it off.

and, you know,

i just woke up the next morning,

and my night gown was just --

was totally

just blood everywhere.

and i just...

[ voice breaking ]

i just knew that...

i knew i wasn't

pregnant anymore.

-you know, sometimes,

if i'm driving around the area

and there's

an orthodox church,

if i notice some cars

in the parking lot,

i go over to church,

sit through the service,

light a candle,

and go on my way.

i take strength in that.

it comforts me.

one thing

that's very important to me

is the personal story

of a 20th century saint

in the orthodox church,

saint nectarios.

saint nectarios

went through his entire life

trying to correct

or rebut lies

that had been told about him by

people who coveted his office.

he was personally ruined

by these rumors.

he was stripped of his position,

he was demoted.

he lost everything.

and he never --

he never accused anyone.

he forgave them,

and he moved on with his life.

-the only place left,

the only other check on

the secret side of government,

the only other place

to begin to articulate

what was really at stake,

both for me personally

as an american --

but what were the larger stakes

for america

was the court of public opinion.

and the person that led

that effort was jesselyn radack.

-i read about tom's case

in the newspaper,

and i was immediately alarmed.

clearly, a line had been crossed

because as unmercifully

as the bush administration

treated me,

at least i was never prosecuted.

and here, they were going

to prosecute someone.

i stayed up that night.

i started an op-ed

about the difference between

leaking and whistle-blowing.

and i submitted it,

and, luckily,

the los angeles times

published it.

i often will write

about something

and put it out there

almost as a beacon...

...for someone to grasp on to.

-she not only got

who i was as a whistle-blower.

she realized what was at stake

because she, herself,

had experienced what it meant

to be on the receiving end

of a government

who wanted to punish her

for simply standing up

and telling the truth.

-i needed to do

an educational campaign.

i needed to do a whistle-blower

reprisal complaint

because he had gone

through proper channels

and complained to

the inspector general.

and this was

the ultimate retaliation.

they sold him down the river

and gave his name to the

justice department to prosecute.

we had an article

by jane mayer of the new yorker,

who did an in-depth,

long-form investigative

journalistic piece.

-the government says

he betrayed his country.

-and that was followed

the next week

by a "60 minutes" piece.

and then,

there were editorials

by the l.a. times

and the washington post,

saying that tom drake

is a whistle-blower

and it's ridiculous to be using

the espionage act against him.

that media was, i think,

a saving grace.

-federal prosecutors today

dropped nearly all of the

charges against thomas drake.

the former

u.s. intelligence official,

who walked out of

the baltimore courthouse today

had been charged

under the espionage act

with mishandling

sensitive information.

it's a high-profile failure

for the justice department,

which is cracking down

on government leaks.

-you know,

i'm not sure anymore exactly

who the good guys are.

so much has changed since

september 11th in our country

that what a decade ago

would have been insanity

in terms of policy

is now the norm.

and it's as though if you

don't buy into the policy,

you're an enemy.

-dad?

-yep.

-there's batman, eats a hot dog,

and this hot dog eats batman.

-gross!

-is that the one that

cookie monster eats a cookie?

-this past weekend, news came

out of general petraeus' affair.

more news followed

that his alleged girlfriend

may have had classified

information on her computer.

and then the fbi

issues a statement

saying that it's not

a criminal investigation.

well, just a week ago, they

charged a translator in bahrain

with two counts of espionage

for sending

a classified document

to stanford university's

archives.

uh, if this woman had classified

information on her computer,

she obviously had to have

gotten it from petraeus.

well, why aren't they

being charged with espionage?

okay.

let's see what i have here.

phone.

glasses 'cause i'm blind.

okay.

in this case, it looks like

if you're a general

and you're buddies

with the president

or if you're the girlfriend

of the general,

you're gonna get a pass.

-[ babbles ]

-if you're a nobody,

you're gonna go to jail

on something,

whether it's an espionage act

count

or some reduced penalty.

you're gonna go to jail.

-good to see you again.

thanks for the speech.

-you don't have another one,

do you?

-[ speaks indistinctly ]

-it was okay.

there was one line

where it said,

like, something like,

"this has been immensely hard

on my kids..."

-yes. my family.

-i forgot to add in,

"and my wife."

-yeah.

"see my kids..."

-"...grow up."

-23rd annual joe a. callaway

award for civic courage

is hereby presented

to john kiriakou,

anti-torture advocate

on the ramparts,

in recognition of his stand

against using torture

to extract information

from government prisoners,

his public disclosure

that torture,

including waterboarding,

is official policy,

not a rogue event,

as the government claims,

his leadership

as the first cia officer

to confirm and then condemn

this illegal torture policy.

[ applause ]

-there's a rumor

that they might just shackle me

and take me away tomorrow.

yeah,

so, i'm gonna take off

my crucifix and my wedding ring

before i leave

for the courthouse.

i don't know.

send me to some pri--

yeah, send me to

some prison someplace.

don't worry.

okay?

no. don't be.

don't be.

-when we first told the kids

that i was gonna have to leave

for a couple of years,

max took it hard.

he cried a lot.

okay.

you want this blanket?

-i'll tell you

why i'm going to sleep.

'cause my hand feels all stiff

when i move it.

-okay.

he was upset that i was not

gonna be around

for his birthday.

-i actually might

go to sleep.

-i'm gonna miss

his first communion.

cold today.

19 degrees.

hi.

good morning.

-hey.

-they don't want me

to give a statement.

i said, "i just want

to thank people."

so, i'm gonna thank people.

-today's sentence

should be a reminder

to every individual

who works for the government

who comes into

the possession

of closely held,

sensitive information

regarding

the national defense

or the identity

of a covert agent,

that it is critical that

that information remain secure.

-john is the only cia agent

who will be going to prison with

respect to the torture program,

and he didn't torture anybody.

he is also the only cia agent

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