Whistleblower David McBride pleads guilty after court rules to withhold evidence over ‘security’ risk

Whistleblower David McBride has pleaded guilty to three charges after an ACT supreme court upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key evidence it deemed as having the potential to jeopardise “the security and defence of Australia” if released.

The former military lawyer’s team suffered a blow on Thursday after they lost a legal bid to overturn a ruling by Justice Mossop preventing McBride from arguing he was fulfilling his duty to the public interest in releasing the classified documents.