Daniel Everette Hale (born August 1, 1987)[1][2] is an American whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence analyst who sent classified information about drone warfare to the press.

[3][4][5][6][7] Hale served in the United States Air Force 2009–2013 before joining the National Security Agency and leaking classified documents to The Intercept.

In 2013, he was assigned to the NSA and the Joint Special Operations Command at Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, where he helped identify targets for assassination.

[10][11] The documents contained details about U.S. kill lists and civilian casualties of drone strikes,[12] and in some cases revealed actions that, if proven, would amount to war crimes.

[11] On July 27, 2021, citing the need to deter others from disclosing government secrets, U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady sentenced Hale to 45 months in prison for violating the Espionage Act of 1917.

[19] U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) wrote to President Biden in August 2021, requesting a full pardon or commutation of sentence for Hale.

[21][22] In August 2021 he received the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence from a group of retired CIA officers, for "performing a vital public service at great personal cost—imprisonment for truth-telling".