If you think that the government’s war on journalists and whistleblowers will end once Joe Biden is inaugurated, think again.
While Donald Trump loudly rages about the press, the Obama-Biden administration quietly but ruthlessly went after journalists and whistleblowers — including me.
I’m Jim Risen, senior national security correspondent at The Intercept. I’ve dedicated my career to exposing the corruption and dirty secrets of the U.S. national security apparatus.
As a result, the government spied on me for years and tried to get me to reveal my confidential sources. When I refused, I was threatened with prison. I fought a seven-year legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court, and ultimately the government backed down and I won.
I’m writing to you today because I’m concerned about the rights of journalists and whistleblowers. I know from firsthand experience the lengths to which a Democratic president may go to prosecute whistleblowers. That’s why it’s so important that investigative newsrooms like ours have the resources we need to fight back and defend the rights of journalists and our sources.
During the Trump years, The Intercept made big, bold investments in the legal and technological capacity needed to securely report on official secrets. Now we need your help to keep those going in a Biden administration. Will you chip in before December 31 to ensure our reporters have the resources they need to uncover lies, expose corruption, protect our sources, and defend our team from government repression?
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation will go through immediately:
Trump has called whistleblowers “low-lifes” and “the enemy of American people.”
But it was the Obama-Biden administration that began an aggressive crackdown on whistleblowers and journalists. During its two terms, the Obama-Biden administration prosecuted nine cases involving whistleblowers and leakers, compared with only three by all previous administrations combined.
And it was under President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden that the Justice Department and the FBI spied on reporters. One of us was labeled an unindicted co-conspirator in a criminal case just for reporting the truth; others were subpoenaed to force them to reveal their sources and testify in criminal cases.
We can’t let those in power suppress the truth and intimidate the press.
Just imagine it: It’s February 2021 and The Intercept is on the verge of publishing a bombshell story exposing the government’s secret surveillance of its own citizens — but the government threatens our newsroom with ruinously expensive lawsuits in order to suppress the truth. We can’t be caught flat-footed.
