Leaking government information, whether for the sake of nationalism or to clear one's own name, always grabs attention. Former CIA officer and whistleblower Sabrina de Sousa sat down with HuffPost Live's Ricky Camilleri to tell her story and shed light on Army Pfc. Bradley Manning's Wikileaks conviction.
De Sousa, convicted in absentia on Italian charges in the 2003 aggravated kidnapping of a radical Islamist cleric, Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar, in Milan, described the "extraordinary rendition" of a man eventually released without charges. De Sousa publicly revealed her CIA affiliation on Saturday, telling her story and describing what she said was a CIA coverup. "The only person who can acknowledge this rendition is the president of the United States," she said. "I fault Italy, as well, because remember Italy was talking about a violation of its sovereignty."
De Sousa continued: "Yet the president and three prime ministers have never demanded that the U.S. explain themselves, or even acknowledge this rendition. That should have been the very first step. ... And then they immediately grant diplomatic immunity to the very person who engineered this whole rendition."
In her quest to clear her own name and win diplomatic immunity, de Sousa investigated the CIA archives pertaining to the Abu Omar rendition. "This case has impacted me on many levels," de Sousa told Camilleri. "It was all emotional first because of my family. I'm a naturalized citizen. I was born in India and my family was there. And the reason I resigned was because I was banned from travel indefinitely to see my mother."
De Sousa said she also lost her government pension and can't find a job.
To hear more of Sabrina de Sousa's story, watch the clip above. Check out the full segment below for her take on Bradley Manning's case.
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