Tom Drake

I had made secret connections with her to, to give her a heads up on what the heck was going on in NSA early on, early on. Okay. After 9 11. Okay. But remember then I was in formal right with, with investigators. In fact, under 9-11, they were so hyper about... See, NSA wanted to put childminders along with me. They did not want... They wanted to know exactly what I was going to share.

I had made secret connections with her to, to give her a heads up on what the heck was going on in NSA early on, early on. Okay. After 9 11. Okay. But remember then I was in formal right with, with investigators. In fact, under 9-11, they were so hyper about... See, NSA wanted to put childminders along with me. They did not want... They wanted to know exactly what I was going to share.

I had made secret connections with her to, to give her a heads up on what the heck was going on in NSA early on, early on. Okay. After 9 11. Okay. But remember then I was in formal right with, with investigators. In fact, under 9-11, they were so hyper about... See, NSA wanted to put childminders along with me. They did not want... They wanted to know exactly what I was going to share.

The investigators, to their credit, said no. But I was spirited down to basically a secret... It was a nondescript government building where I was then interviewed in this building. I was interviewed at NSA for the joint inquiry. Because that's what was happening, all this pushback.

The investigators, to their credit, said no. But I was spirited down to basically a secret... It was a nondescript government building where I was then interviewed in this building. I was interviewed at NSA for the joint inquiry. Because that's what was happening, all this pushback.

The investigators, to their credit, said no. But I was spirited down to basically a secret... It was a nondescript government building where I was then interviewed in this building. I was interviewed at NSA for the joint inquiry. Because that's what was happening, all this pushback.

Because it was exposing a lot of embarrassing details about how the entire intelligence community had failed to prevent. And all Congress said, how do we stop this again? How do we prevent another 9-11? That was a big thing. How do we prevent another 9-11? So-

Because it was exposing a lot of embarrassing details about how the entire intelligence community had failed to prevent. And all Congress said, how do we stop this again? How do we prevent another 9-11? That was a big thing. How do we prevent another 9-11? So-

Because it was exposing a lot of embarrassing details about how the entire intelligence community had failed to prevent. And all Congress said, how do we stop this again? How do we prevent another 9-11? That was a big thing. How do we prevent another 9-11? So-

was part of this dod inspector general investigation went on for a while i was the primary source thousands of pages corruption the fraud the billions in waste the thin thread versus trailblazer thin thread versus stellar wind which was obviously super classified um the at that time, and it had been for several years as it turns out, right? That went on for a while.

was part of this dod inspector general investigation went on for a while i was the primary source thousands of pages corruption the fraud the billions in waste the thin thread versus trailblazer thin thread versus stellar wind which was obviously super classified um the at that time, and it had been for several years as it turns out, right? That went on for a while.

was part of this dod inspector general investigation went on for a while i was the primary source thousands of pages corruption the fraud the billions in waste the thin thread versus trailblazer thin thread versus stellar wind which was obviously super classified um the at that time, and it had been for several years as it turns out, right? That went on for a while.

I was flagged and tagged left and right. All kinds of retaliation, reprisals started occurring. I started getting shifted. That's how I ended up at the National Defense University, out of sight, out of mind. We accelerate to November of 2005. I make a fateful decision. And by the way, as a side note right now, this is about the furthest and longest I've ever publicly said how all this transpired.

I was flagged and tagged left and right. All kinds of retaliation, reprisals started occurring. I started getting shifted. That's how I ended up at the National Defense University, out of sight, out of mind. We accelerate to November of 2005. I make a fateful decision. And by the way, as a side note right now, this is about the furthest and longest I've ever publicly said how all this transpired.

I was flagged and tagged left and right. All kinds of retaliation, reprisals started occurring. I started getting shifted. That's how I ended up at the National Defense University, out of sight, out of mind. We accelerate to November of 2005. I make a fateful decision. And by the way, as a side note right now, this is about the furthest and longest I've ever publicly said how all this transpired.

There's a lot more behind what I said in terms of details and fascinating human dynamics, right? But I've never really gone this far, right? Because most interviews don't last very long. Right, right. So here it is, November 2005. I decided I had one last chance to make my case to the new director of NSA, Keith Alexander, who actually was much more technologically savvy.

There's a lot more behind what I said in terms of details and fascinating human dynamics, right? But I've never really gone this far, right? Because most interviews don't last very long. Right, right. So here it is, November 2005. I decided I had one last chance to make my case to the new director of NSA, Keith Alexander, who actually was much more technologically savvy.

There's a lot more behind what I said in terms of details and fascinating human dynamics, right? But I've never really gone this far, right? Because most interviews don't last very long. Right, right. So here it is, November 2005. I decided I had one last chance to make my case to the new director of NSA, Keith Alexander, who actually was much more technologically savvy.

He did not take kindly to my blowing the whistle. I sent him a letter. Caused quite a stir. But the last thing, Trailblazer, they had decided Trailblazer, it basically got canceled in 2006. But he was convinced that he could do it better. And there was a following program called Turbulence, all these T programs. Yeah, T programs. See, this is the kicker for me.

He did not take kindly to my blowing the whistle. I sent him a letter. Caused quite a stir. But the last thing, Trailblazer, they had decided Trailblazer, it basically got canceled in 2006. But he was convinced that he could do it better. And there was a following program called Turbulence, all these T programs. Yeah, T programs. See, this is the kicker for me.