That’s all well and good. Except for the part about not being able to be a whistleblower in intelligence. Of course you can, as elsewhere. You can be sued, for instance, by private companies for breaking contracts. Whistleblowing usually is accompanied by consequences, otherwise we call it something else.
Anyway, what ypu say is not really what I was talking about. He can be punished; that’s the law. I just don’t feel the need to call him traitor and such. And I don’t like the unilateral nature of what does or doesn’t get to be called a secret in the National Security State. But this has been going on since Truman, the watershed, and before. It isn’t dependent upon this particular case.
If he’s not a traitor, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg’s family needs to file a lawsuit. They were executed for espionage during a time of war. And they were civilians!!