National security whistleblowers and their supporters say whoever leaked a batch of classified documents about the U.S. government's drone warfare efforts to The Intercept should brace for the fury of federal prosecutors.

The Intercept says articles it published Thursday are based on classified slides from 2011 through 2013 provided by an unnamed source who opposes the U.S. policy of using drones to assassinate suspected terrorists. Exiled whistleblower Edward Snowden worked as a government contractor until 2013, but the source of the drone documents is described as new by Intercept journalists.

The person or persons responsible for the leak -- identified with a singular “he” in one of the news publication’s articles -- could face decades behind bars if charged with violating the Espionage Act of 1917, which bars defendants from telling jurors why they disclosed classified information.

The Espionage Act is a popular tool for Obama administration prosecutors, who have used the law in more prosecutions of journalist sources than all previous administrations combined.

“If they’ve shared documents like Edward Snowden, then they will come at them with the Espionage Act for sure if they’re classified,” says retired National Security Agency analyst William Binney.

Binney and other NSA veterans raised concern through official channels about privacy and waste at the NSA. Their homes later were raided by the FBI and a fellow critic then still with the NSA, Thomas Drake, was prosecuted for allegedly violating the Espionage Act in a case that fell apart before trial.

Drake ultimately pleaded guilty in 2011 to exceeding authorized use of an agency computer, a misdemeanor. Drake and Binney have supported Snowden’s decision to flee the country before journalists published his documents exposing mass surveillance, citing their own experiences.

Snowden himself cited their years-long struggle as a reason he relocated first to Hong Kong and then Russia -- where he was stranded en route to Latin America when the State Department canceled his passport -- rather than stay in the U.S.

“I would tell them that my good friend Thomas Drake was subjected to four years of mistreatment by the Department of Justice for crimes he didn’t commit, so if these are infringements they did commit they need to learn from Drake’s experience, as Snowden did," retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern says.

“If this person is feeling vulnerable, I would suggest for at least a while that she go to Hong Kong or a place like that,” says McGovern, who since the lead-up to the Iraq War has engaged in what he calls low-risk “whistleblowing of a genteel, country club way.”

"Anyone who took this gutsy step [should] be fully aware that what I call the Department of Retaliation, formerly known as the Department of Justice, is not above [doing] what they did with Tom Drake,” he says.

Attorney Jesselyn Radack, who represents intelligence community and national security whistleblowers, including Snowden, Drake, Binney and various drone war whistleblowers, says the first step for anyone planning to expose secrets is to find a lawyer.

“It’s always advisable to seek counsel before blowing the whistle, rather than when the government is retaliating against you,” Radack says.

Radack, a whistleblower herself, believes going to the press is a legitimate way to expose government wrongdoing, but would not comment on whether she represents anyone who supplied information for The Intercept’s drone program reporting.

One client Radack does publicly represent, former drone operator Brandon Bryant, testified Thursday before a German parliamentary committee about drone policy.

Others who have experience with Justice Department leak prosecutions aren't sure there's anything that could be done to avoid the wrath of the U.S. government.

Holly Sterling, whose husband Jeffrey Sterling, a former CIA officer, is serving a 42-month prison sentence after being convicted of providing classified information to New York Times journalist James Risen, says she doesn't know if she has any worthwhile advice for The Intercept's source(s).

“The government has set a precedent that they’re going to go after you. I don’t feel that anyone’s safe,” says Sterling, who visited the nation’s capital this week to campaign for a presidential pardon for her husband.

Jeffrey Sterling insists he’s innocent of whistleblowing outside official channels and his supporters say he was convicted on thin circumstantial evidence. The program he allegedly exposed to the public featured a CIA plot to provide Iran with flawed nuclear bomb blueprints. The scientist who delivered the documents reportedly noticed the flaws and tipped off the Iranians.

“My husband, he has nine felony convictions and he’s rotting in prison,” she says -- something she sees as ironic while Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton is defended by officials including President Barack Obama for allegedly making State Department secrets vulnerable to foreign governments by using a personal server for emails she sent while Secretary of State.

Clinton's work emails, Binney theorizes, “were only hacked by the Chinese, the Russians, the Germans and the North Koreans.” He, like McGovern, bristles at calling the Justice Department by its name, and says the 35-year prison sentence for Chelsea Manning for leaking largely low-level documents to WikiLeaks further demonstrates a double standard through which high officials avoid harsh prosecution but low-level dissenters get hammered.

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"Our intelligence communities are out of control and are manipulating governments around the world," Binney adds, meaning there aren't many places a whistleblower could confidently find safe harbor. "They've got more influence than you can shake a stick at now."