“On March 12, 2004, acting attorney general James B. Comey and the Justice Department's top leadership reached the brink of resignation over electronic surveillance orders that they believed to be illegal.”

American author and journalist

Barton David Gellman is an American author and journalist. He is known for his reporting on the September 11 attacks, Dick Cheney’s vice presidency, and the disclosure of global surveillance programs. Beginning in June 2013, he led The Washington Post’s coverage of the U.S. National Security Agency, drawing on top secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. In May 2020, he published a book with Penguin Press about the rise of the surveillance-industrial state, and later joined the staff of The Atlantic.