 In 2010 the government alleged that Drake "mishandled" documents, one of the few such Espionage Act cases in U.S. history.Drake's defenders claim that he was instead being persecuted for challenging the Trailblazer Project.He is the 2011 recipient of the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling and co-recipient of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) award.