Daniel Hale Pens Letter For Judge Describing How He 'Came To Violate The Espionage Act'

The Dissenter ^ | July 23 | The Dissenter

[RandFan]

As the President Joe Biden winds down United States military involvement in Afghanistan, a conflict spanning nearly 20 years, the U.S. Justice Department seeks the harshest sentence ever for the unauthorized disclosure of information in a case against an Afghanistan War veteran.

Daniel Hale, who "accepted responsibility" for violating the Espionage Act, responded to the spitefulness of prosecutors by submitting a letter [PDF] to Judge Liam O'Grady, a judge for the district court in the Eastern District of Virginia. It could be construed as a plea for mercy from the court ahead of sentencing, but more than anything, it outlines a defense of his actions that the U.S. government and a U.S. court would never have allowed him to present before a jury.

In the letter filed in court on July 22, Hale addresses his constant struggle with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He recalls U.S. drone strikes from his deployment to Afghanistan. He grapples with his return home from the war in Afghanistan and the decisions he had to make to move on with his life. He needed money for college, and ultimately took a job with a defense contractor, which led him to work for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

"Left to decide whether to act," Hale declares, "I only could do that which I ought to do before God and my own conscience. The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person." So, he contacted a reporter who he had communicated with before.

[RandFan]

He is due to be sentenced today

[VanShuyten]

Because he took on Obama, I expect he will get the “Maximum Bob” treatment.

[Fido969]

When given the choice between money and his conscience when offered the private sector job, he took the money.

Secondly, did he leak the information anonymously, and then get caught, or did he do it publicly?

[Fido969]

Looking into his story, he did leak the information anonymously, and took pains to cover his tracks. That takes some air out of his civil disobedience claim, he would not back up his beliefs personally.

[Robert DeLong]

He provided documents to Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill and anonymously wrote a chapter in Scahill’s book, The Assassination Complex: Inside the Government’s Secret Drone Warfare Program

[Jeff Chandler]

I expect he will get the “Maximum Bob” treatment.

You mean like, with an alligator?

[whitney69]

“The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person.”

He is a perfect example of why we need to be more diligent in determining who and who not to get into the game of intelligence and the military. It’s people like him that get themselves and others killed by his borderline between insanity, stupidity, or evil.

wy69

[RandFan]

He got 45 months

[Sixgun Symphony]

45 months?

He should have been hanged along side that author who wrote the book giving publishing military secrets to undermine the US war effort. There should also be legal actions against the publisher, with executions of their management.

If this was WWII or an earlier conflict then this is what would have happened. Shame that Congress does not declare war anymore.

[Fido969]

“The answer came to me, that to stop the cycle of violence, I ought to sacrifice my own life and not that of another person.”

This is a perfect excample of the dishonest hubris of this guy.

1. He took the money job over what he claimed was his conscience.

2. He intended to sacrifice NOTHING. He did the leak anonymously and tried to cover up his track.

Only when caught does he say it was his "sacrifice."