The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann: Pelosi Blames Torture Program on Cheney

Last night, GAP Executive Director Bea Edwards appeared on Thom Hartmann’s television program to comment on the release of the Senate report on CIA torture during the George W. Bush administration, and the increasing influence that intelligence communities may have over our elected officials. The segment starts at 31:35.

Newsweek: NSA-Leaker Snowden Shares ‘Truth-Telling’ Award with Journalist Who Helped Him

More coverage of yesterday’s announcement that NSA whistleblower/GAP client Edward Snowden and journalist Laura Poitras have won the coveted Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, widely considered the highest honor a whistleblower can receive. Democracy Now! also covered the announcement in its news rundown.

In related news, Snowden is testifying before a hearing of the Council of Europe this morning, discussing NSA surveillance and the PRISM program. That program allows the agency to collect digital information on billions of people worldwide through major Internet sites such as Google, Yahoo and Facebook.

 Associated Press: Los Angeles Daybook

Tonight, GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, and National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Tom Drake will speak at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism as part of GAP’s American Whistleblower Tour. The USC program, Patriot or Traitor? Whistleblowing and Journalism in the Age of Government Surveillance, will explore the critical balance between civil liberties and national security.

WAFF (Alabama): Whistleblower – Nonprofit had ‘Blatant Conflict of Interest’

A grant-writing whistleblower that worked for multiple Alabama nonprofits has come forward alleging that public money obtained by the groups should not have been awarded as the organizations were “quasi-governmental” agencies. The controversy, which the Alabama Attorney General is looking into, involves a County Commissioner’s dual roles.

 

Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.