An interesting loop is nearing completion. I’ve profiled Barrett Brown and Ladar Levison. Barrett has written about me. Now Ladar is writing about Barrett. We only need Barrett to write about Ladar and Ladar to write about me. Come on, guys! We can do it.
Okay, Ladar has a piece in the Guardian today that you should read. As of 9:49 a.m. Central Standard, the piece appears to link to the same cache of hacked Stratfor information that Barrett got busted for linking to. (!) But that’s not really the most interesting part of Ladar’s story. Ladar reveals that the FBI agents that forced him to shut down his business (the email service that Edward Snowden used) were the same agents that busted Barrett. And just as Barret has claimed that the agents lied about his case, Ladar says that they made “material misrepresentations to prejudice the courts” in his case. Here’s how Ladar wraps up his piece:
Barrett Brown and I don’t have a lot in common: I’m a clean-cut, successful American entrepreneur, and, at the time of his arrest, Barrett was eking out an existence as an independent journalist while attempting to cope with a series of personal problems. We were both singled out by the government for what they thought we could — and would — tell them about other people. When we resisted, they twisted our words, our actions and the law. The result has been a set of disturbing court decisions that may give the government the ability to selectively prosecute anyone they wish. This time it was a journalist. Next time it could be you.
You should read the entire thing.
