On June 9 , 2011 , all 10 original charges against him were dropped . Drake rejected several deals because he refused to " plea bargain with the truth " . He eventually pleaded to one misdemeanor count for exceeding authorized use of a computer ; Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project , who helped represent him , called it an act of " civil disobedience . " Drake 's father was a World War II veteran and his mother a secretary for Pearl S. Buck . He entered the U.S. Air Force in 1979 , becoming an Airborne Voice Processing Specialist , with a fluency in German , and went on ELINT ( electronic intelligence ) missions . It was in that capacity that he encountered the surveillance state of East Germany and the Stasi , which informed his worldview and to which he compares developments in the United States since the September 11 attacks . Drake left the Air Force in 1989 . He was also in the U.S. Navy , where he analyzed intelligence for the National Military Joint Intelligence Center . According to the Washington Post , he also at one time worked with the CIA . In 1989 , Drake began work as an NSA contractor , evaluating software . As a contractor , he worked on projects like JACKPOT and LIBRARIAN , becoming an expert in the quality-testing of software and working on a system for measuring the quality of computer code at the NSA . Drake also continued his academic studies
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Thomas A. Drake