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2025-06-14

US Govt Whistleblower Database

Disclaimer

• Quick note
• Incomplete
• All information here is based on public record.

Types of sources

(I'm using the word "categorisation" not "classification" to avoid confusion.)

categorisation method

• categorised based on intended benefactor as per the source (not classifying based on consequences, or based on intended recipient)
• categorised based on whether the source was imprisoned
• categorised based on whether the source leaked classified information

categories based on intent

• whistleblowers
  • intended benefactor: perceived public interest
  • intended recipient of info: usually public. sometimes specific people acting in public interest such as judges or congressmen.
• leakers
  • intended benefactor: perceived personal gain but not money (romantic interest, personal rivalry, social status, etc)
  • intended recipient of info: anyone
• spies
  • intended benefactor: perceived value-alignment with foreign govt or ideology, or money
  • intended recipient of info: intelligence service of foreign govt

all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, incomplete list

• Reality Winner
• Chelsea Manning
• Edward Snowden
• Thomas Drake
• John Crane
• William Binney, Kirk Wiebe
• Mark Klein
• James Robertson
• Thomas Tamm
• Russ Tice
• Perry Fellwock
• Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo
• Sibel Edmonds
• Diane Roark
• Edward Loomis
• Jeffrey Alexander Sterling
• Samuel Morison
• Robert MacLean
• John C Kiriakou
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
• Terry Albury
• Henry Klye Frese
• Joshua Schulte
• Jack Teixeira

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, those imprisoned (sorted by date)

• Jack Teixeira
• Daniel Everette Hale
• Henry Kyle Frese
• Reality Winner
• Terry Albury
• Joshua Schulte
• John Kiriakou
• James Hitselberger
• Donald Sachtleben
• Chelsea Manning
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
• Shamai Kedem Leibowitz
• Jeffrey Sterling
• Samuel Morison

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, of those imprisoned, those who leaked classified information

• Jack Teixeira
• Daniel Everette Hale
• Henry Kyle Frese
• Reality Winner
• Terry Albury
• Joshua Schulte
• John Kiriakou
• James Hitselberger
• Donald Sachtleben
• Chelsea Manning
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
• Shamai Kedem Leibowitz
• Jeffrey Sterling
• Samuel Morison

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, of those imprisoned, those who did not leak classified information

• empty set

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, those not imprisoned (sorted by date)

• John Crane
• Edward Snowden
• Thomas Drake
• Mark Klein
• James Robertson
• Russ Tice
• Thomas Tamm
• Robert MacLean
• Diane Roark
• Sibel Edmonds
• Edward Loomis
• William Binney, Kirk Wiebe
• Perry Fellwock
• Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, of those not imprisoned, those who leaked classified documents (sorted by date)

• Edward Snowden - still wanted for arrest
• Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, of those not imprisoned, those who may have leaked summaries of classified information, but no classified documents (sorted by date)

• Thomas Drake - govt alleged classified documents leak, judge declared those documents were not classified
• Mark Klein - leaked existence of program that may have been classified, but no classified documents
• Russ Tice - leaked existence of classified program, but no classified documents
• Thomas Tamm - leaked existence of classified program, but no classified documents
• Sibel Edmonds - leaked details that were retroactively classified after the leak, did not leak classified documents
• Edward Loomis - leaked details of classified program, but no classified documents
• William Binney, Kirk Weibe - leaked existence and details of classified program, but no classified documents (as per court record)
• Perry Fellwock - leaked existence and extensive amount of details of classified program, likely did not leak classified documents (as per court record)

of all US govt whistleblowers and leakers, of those not imprisoned, those who did not leak any classified information (sorted by date)

• John Crane
• James Robertson
• Robert MacLean - leaked SSI, which is unclassified but restricted
• Diane Roark

Details of US govt whistleblowers/leakers who were imprisoned (and leaked classified info)

about classification

• Background info
  • US classification levels: CONFIDENTIAL < SECRET < TOP SECRET < TOP SECRET/SCI
  • As of 2022-09-30, public claim is that 1.35 million people have TOP SECRET security clearance.
  • TS/SCI indicates a compartment which only few named individuals can access, not everyone with a TOP SECRET security clearance. Different documents can belong to different compartments. A compartment can be as small as 10 people.
• Conclusion
  • in many whistleblower cases, seems unclear if classification status was SECRET or TOP SECRET at time of leak

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, classification status of leaked info (sorted by date)

• Jack Teixeira
  • classified at time of leak
  • most documents TOP SECRET/SCI (TOP SECRET//HCS-P/SI-G/TK//NOFORN or Top Secret//SI//NOFORN//FISA ???), some documents SECRET//REL FVEY
  • remains classified as of 2025, US govt has confirmed authenticity of some documents
• Daniel Hale
  • classified at time of leak
  • some documents TOP SECRET (TOP SECRET//SI//NOFORN), other documents SECRET
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Henry Frese
  • classified at time of leak
  • some documents TOP SECRET/SCI, some documents SECRET (?? seems unclear)
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Reality Winner
  • classified at time of leak
  • TOP SECRET//SI//ORCON/NOFORN
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Terry Albury
  • classified at time of leak
  • some documents SECRET, some documents CONFIDENTIAL, other documents unclassified, at time of leak (??? seems unclear)
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Joshua Schulte
  • classified at time of leak
  • some documents SECRET, some documents TOP SECRET or TOP SECRET/SCI (??? seems unclear), operational details of vault7 not leaked at all
  • remains classified as of 2025
• John Kiriakou
  • classified at time of leak
  • officier identity SECRET, interrogation details TOP SECRET/SCI or CONFIDENTIAL/SECRET (??? seems unclear)
  • officer identity remains classified as of 2025, partial info about interrogation methods declassified as of 2025
• James Hitselberger
  • classified at time of leak
  • SECRET
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Donald Sachtleben
  • classified at time of leak
  • main documents TOP SECRET // SCI, other documents SECRET
  • remains classified as of 2025. summarised details confirmed in press interviews.
• Chelsea Manning
  • classified at time of leak
  • iraq war logs SECRET//NOFORN, guantanamo bay SECRET//NOFORN, collateral murder video SECRET, diplomatic cables CONFIDENTIAL or SECRET or TOP SECRET (??? seems unclear)
  • iraq war logs not declassified as of 2025, guantanmo bay not declassified as of 2025, collateral murder video not declassified as of 2025, diplomatic cables some redacted documents declassified as of 2025
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
  • classified at time of leak
  • TOP SECRET/SCI
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Shamai Kedem Leibowitz
  • classified at time of leak
  • SECRET
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Jeffrey Sterling
  • classified at time of leak
  • TOP SECRET/SCI, or SECRET (??? seems unclear)
  • remains classified as of 2025
• Samuel Morison
  • classified at time of leak
  • TOP SECRET or SECRET (??? seems unclear)
  • some lower resolution photos similar to leaked photos declassified as of 2025

key dates recorded

• date of first transmission of a document to a second person (there could be multiple documents sent on different dates)
• date of first public publication of a document (there could be multiple documents published on different dates)
• date of arrest
• date of public revealing of whistleblower's identity
• date of being released from prison

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, key dates (sorted by date)

• Jack Teixeira
  • first transmission to semi-public discord 2022-02, first transmission to journalist likely 2022-12 (discord server logs 2022-02 to 2022-12 not publicly available), first publication 2023-04-06, public identity 2023-04-13, arrest 2023-04-13, not released as of 2025-06
• Daniel Hale
  • first transmission 2014-05 (multiple messages sent, exact date of first message containing classified document is not public record), first publication 2015-10-15, arrest 2019-05-09, public identity 2019-05-09, released 2025-07-04
• Henry Frese
  • first transmission 2018-04-27, first publication 2018-05-08 (??? exact date not clear), arrest 2019-10-09, public identity 2019-10-09, released 2022-10-14
• Reality Winner
  • first transmission 2017-05-09, arrest 2017-06-03, first publication 2017-06-05, public identity 2017-06-05, released 2021-06-02
• Terry Albury
  • first transmission 2016-02, first publication 2017-01-31, arrest 2018-03-28, public identity 2018-03-29, released 2020-11
• Joshua Schulte
  • first transmission 2016-04 (exact date not in public record), first publication 2017-03-07, arrest on allegedly unrelated charge 2017-08-24, public identity as a suspected whistleblower 2018-05-15, public identity as whistleblower confirmed 2018-06-18, not released as of 2025-06
• John Kiriakou
  • first non-classified transmission 2007-12-10, first non-classified publication 2007-12
  • identity of CIA officer deuce martinez was classified. deuce martinez involvement independently suspected in public since 2006-06-20. first classified transmission 2008-08 (email from public record in 2008-08, previous email in 2008-04 alleged), first public publication of martinez' name 2008-06-22 (Scott Shane, NYT), first classified publication in a classified legal hearing 2009, clear public publication of classified info 2015-02-18.
  • arrest 2012-01-23, public identity 2012-01-23, released 2025-02-03
• James Hitselberger
  • first transmission 2012-04-11, no publication, arrest 2012-10-25, public identity 2012-10-25, released 2014-07
• Donald Sachtleben
  • first transmission 2012-04-30, first publication 2012-05-07, arrest on allegedly unrelated charges 2012-05-11, indicted as whistleblower 2013-09-23, public identity 2013-09-23, released 2022 (??? exact date not clear)
• Chelsea Manning
  • first transmission 2010-01 (as per chelsea's claims, 2010-02 is publicly documented), first publication 2010-02-18, arrest 2010-05-27, public identity 2010-06-07, released 2017-01-17
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
  • first transmission 2009-06, first publication 2009-06-11, indicted 2010-08-18, arrest 2010-08-24, public identity as whistleblower confirmed 2010-08-24, released 2015 (??? exact date not clear)
• Shamai Leibowitz
  • first transmission 2009-01 (exact date unclear, may not be public record), first publication 2009-03-26, house raid 2009-04 (exact date unclear, may not be public record), final arrest 2009-12-17, public identity 2009-12-17, released 2012-01 (exact date unclear)
• Jeffrey Sterling
  • first transmission 2003-03 (first phone call 2003-02-27 out of multiple phone calls, not clear which phone call revealed classified info), first publication 2006-01-03, arrest 2011-01-06, public identity 2011-01-06 (identity was semi-private before this), released 2018-01 (exact date unclear)
• Samuel Morison
  • first transmission 1984-07 (??? exact date within 1984-07 not clear), first publication 1984-08-06, arrest 1984-10-01, public identity 1984-10-01, released 1988 (??? exact date unclear)

Consequences on social circle

• Typical consequences once identity is publicly out
  • Family members are interrogated, house raided and wiretapped.
  • Family members face significant legal expenses. Almost always, a defence fund is raised with donations from non-profits and the general public.
  • Family members are verbally harassed in-person and online.
  • Multiple people in extended social circle cut off contact. A common reason is to avoid being involved in the investigation.
  • Once imprisoned, prison visits are allowed for immediate family members.
  • Family members are not imprisoned.
• Unless specified otherwise, it is IMO a reasonable assumption that all of the above consequences occured in every single case of US govt whistleblowers/leakers who were imprisoned. There may or may not be documented proof for all of the consequences.
• Usually there is more documented proof if the whistleblower chose to talk to journalists or the general public about the challenges they faced. Usually law enforcement or intelligence did not make information public against the will of the whistleblower.

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, consequences on social circle (only done surface-level research so far)

• Jack Teixeira
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Step-father, mother, biological father, 1 step-brother, 1 step-sister, girlfriend
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, online harassment of parents
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
  • Misc: gave TV interview while in prison
• Daniel Hale
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, no SO
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
• Henry Frese
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, 3 sisters, girlfriend
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
• Reality Winner
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, 1 sister, boyfriend
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, wiretap, cut off by extended circle, significant legal expenses
  • Documented prison visits: multiple visits by mother, multiple phone calls
  • Misc: Mother faced panic attacks and depression. Sister withdrew from college for a semester. Parents faced difficulties with retaining job.
• Terry Albury
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, siblings unknown, wife, 2 children
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
  • Misc: Wife and multiple friends remained supportive throughout the trial and prison sentence.
• Joshua Schulte
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, 3 brothers, SO unknown
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, significant legal expenses, online harassment
  • Documented prison visits: some family visits, visits were restricted for 3 years, claimed that he was attempting to release more info from prison
• John Kiriakou
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, siblings unknown, wife, 5 children (of which 2 from wife, 3 from ex-wife)
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, wiretap, polygraph, cut off by extended circle, significant legal expenses, online and inperson verbal harassment
  • Documented prison visits: Multiple visits by spouse and children, visits by journalists
  • Misc: Public talks about how being shunned by his entire social circle was painful
• James Hitselberger
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, no siblings, no SO
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
• Donald Sachtleben
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: no info available
  • Documented consequences for social circle: no info available
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
• Chelsea Manning
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, (divorced), 1 sister, boyfriend (breakup at same time)
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, wiretap, significant legal expenses, cut off by extended circle, online verbal harassment
  • Documented prison visits: Multiple visits by family and friends. Multiple letters received, although some were redacted. First visits were behind glass, later visits were regular.
  • Misc: UK govt cooperated with US govt to wiretap mother and aunt in Wales. Father lost job, mother lived in debt, until sufficient donation received for legal defence. Mother collapsed during hearing, faced multiple panic attacks and medical consequences. Father became depressed. Father's second marriage broke apart as well.
• Stephen Jin-Woo Kim
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, girlfriend (later wife), 1 sister, other siblings unknown
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, significant legal expenses, online harassment
  • Documented prison visits: Multiple visits by family members, visit by journalist
  • Misc: James Rosen, journalist, visited Stephen Kim in prison to apologise.
• Shamai Leibowitz
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, wife, children unknown
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documeted prison visits: no info available
  • Misc: Used public defender not private lawyer. Grandson of Yeshayahu Leibowitz. Likely morally supported by family and broader jewish community throughout trial and imprisonment.
• Jeffrey Sterling
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, multiple siblings, wife, no children
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, wiretap, significant legal expenses, online harassment
  • Documented prison visits: Multiple visits by wife. Some journalists were allowed visits and others were denied.
  • Misc: Lost house and nearly went bankrupt due to legal fees. Supported by wife throughout trial and imprisonment.
• Samuel Morison
  • Documented social circle at the time of leak: Father, mother, siblings unknown, spouse unknown, children unknown
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation
  • Documented prison visits: no info available
  • Misc: Grandson of Samuel Eliot Morison

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, opsec mistakes and arrest methods

• todo

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, allied lawyers and journalists

• todo

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers imprisoned, miscellaneous information

• todo

Details of US govt whistleblowers/leakers who were not imprisoned and leaked classified info

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, classification status of leaked info (sorted by date)

• Edward Snowden
  • 100,000-2,000,000 documents (exact number is not public record), many of which were TOP SECRET/SCI
• Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo
  • TOP SECRET

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, key dates (sorted by date)

• Edward Snowden
  • first transmission 2013-01 to 2013-06 (date is not public record), flight from Hawaii US to Hong Kong 2013-05-10, first major transmission 2013-06-02, first publication 2013-06-05, public identity 2013-06-09, flight from Hong Kong to Moscow 2013-06-23, first asylum request made 2013-06-23, first asylum granted (by russia) 2013-08-01, citizenship granted (by russia) 2022-09-26
• Daniel Ellsberg, Tony Russo
  • first involvement of an unauthorised person (tony russo) 1969-10-01, transmission to US senator 1969-10 (??? exact date unclear), first transmission to journalist 1971-03-02, first publication 1971-06-13, arrest 1971-06-28, released on bond 1971-06-28, case dismissed 1973-05-11

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, consequences on social circle

• Edward Snowden
  • Documented social circle at time of leak: Father, mother, (divorced multiple years before the leak), 1 sister, girlfriend (now wife as of 2025-06), no children (2 children as of 2025-06)
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, polygraph, wiretap, significant legal expenses, online harassment
  • Documented visits in asylum: Father visited on 2013-10-10, girlfriend (now wife) permanently shifted to moscow in 2014-07 (possibly 2014-07-15 ??? exact date not clear), multiple in-person visits by journalists and lawyers since 2013-06, multiple video calls by journalists. No public record indicating mother ever visited him after the leak. (??? seems unclear)
  • Misc: Snowden's family members working for US govt kept their jobs but with no further promotions
• Daniel Ellsberg
  • Documented social circle at time of leak: Father, wife (married on 1970-08-08, during leak), siblings unknown (??? seems unclear), mother dead, ex-wife (divorced), 2 children from ex-wife (later had 1 child from wife)
  • Documented consequences for social circle: house raid, interrogation, wiretap, significant legal expenses, in-person harassment by FBI agents, cut off by extended circle
  • Documented visits: After case dismissal: Visited by children and step-children. Visited by multiple friends and anti-war activists. Visited by multiple journalists. Significant surveillance by FBI and NSA continued during this time frame.
  • Misc:
    • Psychiatrist's office was (illegally) broken into under direction of Howard Hunt, CIA officer, to obtain evidence so that Ellsberg could deemed mentally unfit for trial.
    • Daniel Ellsberg's father initially disowned him for this decision to leak the documents, but may have later changed his mind. (??? exact details not clear)
    • Daniel Ellsberg's son later claimed parents had strained marriage for many years and he had less contact with his father.

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, opsec mistakes and arrest methods

• todo

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, allied lawyers and journalists

• todo

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and leaked classified info, miscellaneous information

• Edward Snowden
  • todo
• Daniel Ellsberg
  • G Gordon Liddy, ex-FBI ex-Army, claims Howard Hunt (who broke into Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office) also planned to induce LSD overdose to deem Ellsberg mentally unfit.
  • Wiretap also performed without warrant. Judge dismissed case due to extensive illegal evidence gathering.
  • todo

Details of US govt whistleblowers/leakers who were not imprisoned and did not leak classified info

• todo

of all US govt whistleblowers/leakers not imprisoned and did not leak classified info, key dates (sorted by date)

• Thomas Drake - first transmission to journalist 2005-11 to 2006-02 (??? exact date unclear), first publication 2006-01-29, house raid 2007-11-28, trial sentencing date 2011-07-15, no arrest
• Mark Klein -
• Russ Tice
• Thomas Tamm
• Sibel Edmonds
• Edward Loomis
• William Binney, Kirk Weibe
• Perry Fellwock

Details of spies against US govt

• todo

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