BuzzFlash Salutes Thomas Tamm for his Dedication to Justice and Truth

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Thomas Tamm

It seems that whenever Bush Administration secrets are revealed, the wrong person takes the Plame ...er blame, that is.

Such is the case with former government agent Thomas Tamm. Tamm told Eric Lichtblau and James Risen of The New York Times about the illegal domestic spying program operating within the Justice Department Tamm once worked for.

The resulting article led to Congressional investigation, earned a Pulitzer for the paper, and spawned books for each of the two authors.

Now Tamm may face charges for what he did, though he told Newsweek that he only revealed to the reporters at The New York Times that the program existed. He said he wasn't ever briefed on what insiders referred to simply as "the program," so he couldn't have divulged any national security secrets.

Tamm was one of almost a dozen sources for the two reporters' story, but he may end up bearing the brunt of the anger from his former colleagues. As Newsweek reports:

The FBI has pursued him relentlessly for the past two and a half years. Agents have raided his house, hauled away personal possessions and grilled his wife, a teenage daughter and a grown son. More recently, they've been questioning Tamm's friends and associates about nearly every aspect of his life. Tamm has resisted pressure to plead to a felony for divulging classified information. But he is living under a pall, never sure if or when federal agents might arrest him.

Furthermore, Newsweek reports that Tamm suffers from depression and insomnia, as well as having run up thousands of dollars in debt. Tamm set up a legal defense fund; here is the information should any of our readers be able to contribute:

Thomas Tamm Legal Defense Fund
Bank of Georgetown
5236 44th Street
Washington, DC 20015

With the recent passing of Deep Throat, it's nice to know that there are still people out there that will risk everything to do the right thing. For Tamm, who grew up in a family dedicated to government work, it must have been a very difficult task. So we at BuzzFlash want to thank him for knowing right from wrong, as well as the true definition of public service. 

WINGS OF JUSTICE

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