The Story of the Wiretap Whistleblower

Fascinating cover story in Newsweek this week about Thomas M. Tamm, a former Justice Department lawyer who exposed the Bush administration's effort to intercept phone calls and e-mails of people in the United States without court warrants. But it's how he did it that makes it interesting: Tamm went straight to the New York Times, which later published a story exposing the program (based not just on his revelations, it should be noted). He didn't bother with established federal whistleblowing procedures.

Tamm's defenders say he was merely trying to defend the rule of law and expose what he thought was a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Without his actions, they say, the administration's activities may never have come to light.

Others say going to the media is the wrong approach. "You can't have runoffs deciding they're going to be the white knight and running to the press," Frances Fragos Townsend, told Newsweek. Townsend once headed the Justice unit where Tamm worked and later served as President Bush's chief counterterrorism adviser. "There are legal processes in place for [whistleblowers' complaints]. This is one where I'm a hawk. It offends me, and I find it incredibly dangerous."

I'll admit to a bias in favor of leaks to the media, for obvious reasons. But you can make up your own mind as to whether Tamm is a whistleblowing hero or merely a turncoat.