Shamai Leibowitz was convicted of espionage for telling the public about FBI crimes. He believes that Obama punished him in an attempt to teach whistleblowers a lesson — and thinks that Snowden learned useful lessons from it (though not the ones Obama had in mind).

Leibowitz cites "the obligation to our consciences and basic human rights" as the justification for doing his duty despite laws against it, but he could also cite the US Constitution.