Daniel Hale, who leaked information on US drone warfare, sentenced to 45 months in prison for violating Espionage Act

“I believe that it is wrong to kill, but it is especially wrong to kill the defenseless,” Hale told the court. He said he shared what “was necessary to dispel the lie that drone warfare keeps us safe, that our lives are worth more than theirs.”

“Hale did not in any way contribute to the public debate about how we fight wars. All he did was endanger the people who are doing the fighting.” This was said by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg.

“You are not being prosecuted for speaking out about the drone program killing innocent people. You could have been a whistleblower ... without taking any of these documents." This was said by U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady.

The defense said it was a public service. WP reported: 'The documents included a report finding that reliance on deadly attacks was undermining intelligence gathering. During one five-month stretch of an operation in Afghanistan, the documents revealed, nearly 90 percent of the people killed were not the intended targets.'



Intercept: Leaked military documents expose the inner workings of Obama’s drone wars