Pentagon Releases Once-Secret Report In Drake Case
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has released a previously secret report on a failed $1 billion National Security Agency computer project that supports criticisms of several whistleblowers, including former spy-agency official Thomas Drake.
The government last year accused Drake of handing a reporter highly classified documents about the project, called Trailblazer.
Drake's was one of several leak cases prosecuted by the Obama administration under the Espionage Act, a policy criticized by anti-secrecy groups as overkill.
The case fell apart this month after the government balked at putting classified material in evidence. Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and will be sentenced July 15.
The heavily-censored 2004 report obtained by the Project on Government Oversight said Trailblazer, under development by contractors, could be more costly and less capable than a rival in-house system.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
