He is a one-time Liberal candidate in NSW and the son of the late Sydney doctor who alerted the world to birth defects caused by the drug thalidomide.

Now David William McBride, a former military lawyer and captain in Britain's elite Special Air Service, is himself a whistleblower and is at the centre of Australian Federal Police raids on the ABC's Sydney headquarters on Wednesday.

Whistleblower David William McBride has been charged for leaking defence documents to journalists. Credit:Alexandra Back

Mr McBride, 55, was arrested in dramatic scenes at Sydney Airport in September last year as he sought to return to his new home of Spain after a brief trip to Australia to attend a father-daughter dance at his daughter's school.

He was named on Wednesday alongside three ABC journalists in the AFP's search warrant, which covers a raft of documents believed to be in the possession of the national broadcaster, including handwritten and digital notes relating to the four men as well as to a range of organisations and broad topics, including "Afghanistan" and "The 7.30 Report".