Thomas Drake,
a former intelligence guy at the NSA, was prosecuted under the Espionage
Act in 2010 for allegedly revealing secrets about the agency's massive
warrantless wire-tapping program. The feds subsequently dropped
all but a misdemeanor charge. He says the U.S. government has an
"industrial-scale" surveillance system that "the Stasi in East Germany
would have drooled over."
His advice
to Edward Snowden is: "Be lawyered up to the max and find a place
where it's going to be that much more difficult for the United States
to make arrangements for his return," Drake said. "And always make
sure you know what's behind you." (5:53)