Thomas Tamm: An American Hero

I had the privilege yesterday of attending an awards ceremony in Washington DC honoring Thomas Tamm, the recipient of this year's Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, which is given out annually by the Fertel Foundation and The Nation Institute. Were it not for Tamm, a former Justice Department lawyer, Americans might never have learned about the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program, disclosed in a 2005 New York Times article by Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, who first learned about the secret surveillance of US citizens from him. Risen and Lichtblau won a Pulitzer Prize for their piece. Tamm was rewarded for helping to disclose the unlawful program they wrote about by having his house raided by FBI officials, who seized his laptop, personal papers and family Christmas card list. He fell into a depression, resigned from the Justice Department, and may still be prosecuted and sent to jail for having leaked information vital to national security.

The irony is rich, not least since, as this front-page article in yesterday's Times revealed, the National Security Agency has continued to intercept private email messages and phone calls on a scale vastly exceeding the limits established by Congress. In one instance, the agency actually wiretapped a member of Congress without warrant. "It's stunning," Tamm told me after receiving his award. "If this doesn't prompt Congress to hold hearings, nothing will."

Senator Diane Feinstein has vowed that hearings will indeed take place. Tamm suggested another step that's long overdue – releasing the Bush-era legal memorandum that authorized the warrantless wiretapping program. The Obama administration did, of course, release the long-concealed (and predictably grotesque) memos authorizing torture yesterday, overriding the strenuous objection of some members of the national security establishment and upending the notion that citizens must be prevented from knowing about the nefarious things being done in their name, as was standard practice under Bush. But transforming the culture of secrecy that has reigned in Washington for the past eight years will take a lot more than this. Making sure Thomas Tamm isn't prosecuted – and that the people who crafted and authorized the illegal program he helped bring to light are – would mark real change.

Comments (28)

1. So?

   We now know about warantless wiretapping.

   So?

   Warrantless wiretapping continues under Obama the Kindly.

   So.

   Posted by sloper at 04/17/2009 @ 11:08am

2. indeed. congress should take the initiative here and call for hearings.

   also i'd like to see some specifics about who and what groups or types of individuals we are listening to, what the specific procedures are, what the law specifically says, etc...

   Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/17/2009 @ 11:27am

3. I wonder if some of our "You have nothing to worry about if you are doing nothing wrong" and "It's not 'torture'...it's intensive interrogation" types from the Bush Years....

   will suddenly turn into "pansy-assed, love the terr'urrits ACLU types" now that the head of DHS is talking about...

   "RIGHT-wing extremism"??????

   LOL

   Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 11:44am

4. You mean this guy blabbed before he could protect his own butt!?

   Posted by ACook at 04/17/2009 @ 12:02pm

5. Posted by ACook at 04/17/2009 @ 12:02pm

   Yes, ACOOK. Now...anything else to add or scared of contradicting some earlier (pre-2008) comments on the subject???

   BTW, if Napolitano wanted to listen in on YOUR calls, in case you made contact with a right-wing extremist....you wouldn't mind, would ya?

   Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 12:37pm

6. A seditious little traitor/twerp who deserves no respect, is an embarrassment to our forefathers, his mother and father, and America. Thomas Tamm is the furthest thing from any type of hero.

   Posted by barry25 at 04/17/2009 @ 12:52pm

7. Posted by barry25 at 04/17/2009 @ 12:52pm

   (Not usually going to get an answer, but I'll try)

   Hey, Barry...what EXACTLY did Tamm do that was "traitorous"?

   Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 1:42pm

8. He's no hero

   Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 1:46pm

9. I think a good case could be made that Tamm is something of a traitor as was the case with Daniel Ellsberg. Not quite as bad, but still it was an attempt to provide aid and comfort to our enemies.

   Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 2:03pm

10. Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 2:03pm

    Lord knows, the truth getting out and hurting an ideologically-based war is bad for America!

    Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 2:39pm

11. Imagine we now have a President and Demoncrat congress who may make it their business to honor all national traitors! What a wonder world they are creating!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/17/2009 @ 2:49pm

12. Traitor is another term that no longer has meaning since few use it correctly.For most people traitor means anyone who disagrees with me and for most people those views are 100% partisan as are what constitutes giving aid and comfort.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 04/17/2009 @ 3:51pm

13. DEMONCRAT! TRAITOR! TWERP! NERD! SATANS FAVORITE DAUGHTER! GRRRRRRRR!

    Down boy! Heel! Wipe the spittle away from the corners of your mouth, lest animal control think you to be rabid. And these are the people stockpiling guns. Super.

    Posted by entropy at 04/17/2009 @ 4:22pm

14. The Obamanation that makes desolation Pres. really has some "special people" as advisors! (Transparency?)

    An investment company run by the Obama administration's auto task force has been accused of paying more than $1 million to an aide to New York's former comptroller in a bid to win a lucrative deal with the state pension fund.

    Steven Rattner was an executive at the Quadrangle Group, a private equity firm, until he left this year to lead President Barack Obama's efforts to fix the U.S. auto industry.

    Quadrangle, while under Rattner's watch, paid huge fees to Hank Morris, a political aide to former comptroller Alan Hevesi, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in court papers filed Wednesday.

    Rattner has not been charged with any wrongdoing. A spokesman for Quadrangle declined to comment Thursday when asked about the company's role.

    Quadrangle's link to the investigation has been public for some time, but an SEC complaint filed this week in connection with a new round of indictments provided new details.

    The complaint said that a Quadrangle "senior executive" met first with Loglisci and then with Morris in 2004 to try and persuade the state fund to invest in Quadrangle.

    Quadrangle ultimately agreed to pay Morris's firm, Searle & Co., a "finder fee" of 1.1 percent of any money it received from the fund.

    A Quadrangle affiliate that specializes in distributing low-budget films, GT Brands, also acquired the DVD distribution rights to a film called "Chooch" that had been produced by Loglisci's brother.

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/17/2009 @ 5:39pm

15. Weeks after that film deal was signed, Loglisci told Quadrangle it would get $100 million in pension fund business.

    A Treasury Department spokeswoman said Rattner had "made us aware of the pending investigation" during the transition. An SEC spokesman declined to comment. Rattner's link to the investigation was first reported in February.

    No problems with Administration approved graft and corruption here! This is what the leftwingnuts voted for!!!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/17/2009 @ 5:40pm

16. commancheamerican-Actually,it was far more than just the left that voted for Obama and there are not enough leftwingnuts to get any POTUS elected just as there are not enough of you rightwingnuts to get any POTUS elected.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 04/17/2009 @ 5:46pm

17. commancheamerican-All of you sore losers,on both sides, come across as mean and vindictive and only other sore losers take the whining to heart.

    Posted by i'm nobody at 04/17/2009 @ 5:49pm

18. This is just the idea of change and hope, transparency and accountability that the leftwingnuts voted in the Obamanation that makes desolation President for! Enjoy!

    Posted by comancheamerican at 04/17/2009 @ 6:01pm

19. I think a good case could be made that Tamm is something of a traitor as was the case with Daniel Ellsberg. Not quite as bad, but still it was an attempt to provide aid and comfort to our enemies.

    Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 2:03pm

    Because he defended our Constitution? Hmm. I guess the Constitution is a traitorous document.

    More proof that one man's hero is another man's great Satan.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2009 @ 6:56pm

20. think a good case could be made that Tamm is something of a traitor as was the case with Daniel Ellsberg. Not quite as bad, but still it was an attempt to provide aid and comfort to our enemies.

    Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 2:03pm

    I have yet to pay attention to your explanation of how wire tapping American citizens is not unConstitutional or illegal so bring it on. Because they were wiretapping AMERICAN citizens, not just foreigners.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2009 @ 6:59pm

21. Enjoy! Posted by comancheamerican at 04/17/2009 @ 6:01pm |

    Not to worry, I will. I will enjoy having competent leadership at the federal level.

    I know the tea party wasn't quite enough...get your gun, Comanche, sell everything. It's the end of the world as you knew it(apologies to REM).

    Posted by erazma at 04/17/2009 @ 7:37pm

22. I have yet to pay attention to your explanation of how wire tapping American citizens is not unConstitutional or illegal so bring it on. Because they were wiretapping AMERICAN citizens, not just foreigners.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2009 @ 6:59pm

    You can read it at the Judiciary Committee Alarmed thread

    Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 9:59pm

23. You can read it at the Judiciary Committee Alarmed thread

    Posted by antisocialist at 04/17/2009 @ 9:59pm |

    Will do.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 04/17/2009 @ 10:13pm

24. We're talking about the tip of a huge iceberg here... and our country is reeling from the results of a collision that could easily leave us awash. That few could speak up at a time of national emergency is a shocking travesty... insofar as the tragic drama that unfolded, and is still unfolding... was domestic in nature... and not overseas as we were led to believe.

    Fascism felt appropriate and necessary.

    Those who spoke up were assaulted.

    The Constitution was shelved and the "State" reconfigured itself to promote its own partisan agenda.

    And... as we continue on our way... hobbled by an economy that can only 'protect' those who commandeered and corrupted the world's first and foremost Democracy...

    ...the reality of what we've been put through over the past decade is sinking in... as it must in a true Democracy... even to those 'loyal' FOX hounds that have barked up every ponzi scheme in sight... with fresh new 'casual disclosures' and 20/20 hindsights... on the way home, as it were... from the trenches of Democracy's fight for its very life as a sentient being.

    And those on the far left... who clamor for blood, revenge and collateral damage... are deaf to the inflections of reason and courage... and are insensible to the tacit and profoundly positive change that has occurred in the leadership of this country, hearing only the remains of Bush's 'bald faced lies' that echo through our rapid attainment of profound progress and change.

    The tables have turned... and the CIA is no longer above the law... or a role model to the world...

    Don't be a fool... Bond was a tool...

    Posted by ttr at 04/18/2009 @ 08:51am

25. Ian Fleming's Bond books were satire.

    Posted by emile duBois at 04/18/2009 @ 09:17am

26. Yes, ACOOK. Now...anything else to add or scared of contradicting some earlier (pre-2008) comments on the subject???

    BTW, if Napolitano wanted to listen in on YOUR calls, in case you made contact with a right-wing extremist....you wouldn't mind, would ya?

    Posted by Mask at 04/17/2009 @ 12:37pm

    Like what? I don't care if you go back and dig up dog doo doo. If the government couldn't protect him and he didn't bother to cover his own behind, then that's his own dumb fault.

    Posted by ACook at 04/19/2009 @ 3:52pm

27. I'm so disgusted with our faux progressive president that I find myself hoping Rezko or Blago implicates him or he is found to have really been born in Kenya. He's better than Bush, but that's not saying much. Some of his economic package is good, most of it is Bushy. His foreign, military and human rights policies are slicker and therefore sicker than Bush's.

    He's smarter but no wiser, more congenial but no less antisocial, winsome but no less irresponsible than Bush.

    Posted by DrBrian at 04/19/2009 @ 11:21pm

28. wow-i've been following internet sites for only a short while, and i often find extremely good writing and insight in the comments. this is one of my first contributions,and first i wanted to read what other comments have been made. i wanted to say, most importantly, that thomas tamm is a hero to me because i know i was wiretapped and my life got miserable and never really got better yet. i think it was because i just happened into a wrong public housing apartment, and when i called police for assistance, got no assistance, complained wherever i could, got no assistance--then, everything got really bizarre and nasty. i still don't know why for sure, but now i know that calling the police first was probably a big, idiotic mistake. why would my phone get tapped? i still don't know, and i guess i never will. but just knowing that this is some sort of government policy was helpful to me, and i wish others could realize how disgusting and creepy this spy stuff really is. especially when your friends are saying that maybe, you know, you're just imagining things and "need help" what i imagine now is that my country has become- well, not my country, or , at least not the country i believed we had. thomas tamm is definitely some kind of hero, because speaking out, especially these days, against war, violence, injustice, etc. is not only unwelcome, it's damn dangerous. it is dangerous to submit yourself to the arrest and attack of police in swat gear. finally, i have seen the right wing trolls on other sites, and see that regular readers can identify and are forced to argue with their trashy,useless comments; but it looks like the nation has an extra load of assigned, trolling, right wing saboteuring soldiers. it's too bad. it mucks up the discussion.

    Posted by sparky1 at 04/20/2009 @ 10:58am