Thomas Tamm

Early life and education Thomas Tamm was born in 1952. He is the son of Quinn Tamm and nephew of Edward Allen Tamm, both high-ranking officials of the FBI and federal judges, and brother of another career FBI agent. In 1974, Quinn graduated from Brown University. He then graduated from Georgetown Law School.

Career After passing the bar, Tamm joined the state's attorney's office. After gaining additional experience, he joined the United States Department of Justice's Capital Case Unit, where he litigated death penalty cases. He eventually joined the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, where he was liaison with the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court.

Whistleblowing A New York Times article on December 16, 2005 exposing the warrantless NSA surveillance for the first time was based on Tamm's initial tip-offs. Reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau won a Pulitzer prize for that reporting in 2006.

In 2007, FBI agents raided Tamm's house. on suspicion of his involvement in leaking the details, but it was not until 2008 – online on December 13 – that his role was confirmed and Tamm began speaking out publicly.

On April 26, 2011, after inauguration of President Barack Obama (who had criticized the program) and a lengthy criminal investigation, the Justice Department announced that it would be dropping its investigation of Tamm and would not file charges.

Media exposure (2012–2013) On August 22, 2012 The New York Times published an Op-doc (a forum of short documentaries produced by independent filmmakers) produced by Laura Poitras entitled The Program. The producer characterized it as preliminary work that would be included in a documentary planned for release in 2013, as the final part of the trilogy based on interviews with William Binney, a 32-year veteran of the National Security Agency, who also became a whistleblower and described the details of the Stellar Wind project that he helped to design. Binney stated that the program he worked on, the facility being built at Bluffdale, Utah, had been designed for foreign espionage, but in 2001 was converted to spying on citizens in the United States, prompting concerns by him and others that the actions were illegal and unconstitutional, which led to disclosures.

On October 29, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the constitutionality of the amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that were used to authorize the creation of such facilities and justify such actions. The determination of the court was not unanimous in James R. Clapper, Jr., Director Of National Intelligence, et al., Petitioners v. Amnesty International USA et al., as Justice Breyer filed a dissenting opinion, with whom Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sotomayor, and Justice Kagan joined.

In December 2013, the Public Broadcasting System's Frontline documentary series interviewed Tamm concerning the FISA Court. In December, the 80-year old and retired Blakey agreed to accept similar unappealable discipline with respect to his advice to former student Koeck. Tamm's attorney said the Maryland Bar had investigated Tamm for the same disclosures in 2009, and decided not to press charges.

Awards 2009 Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize