A former Justice Department official has admitted that he tipped off the New York Times about the government’s top-secret domestic spy program. In an interview with Newsweek, Thomas Tamm said he personally called the New York Times from a subway pay phone in 2004 to tell them about the program. At the time, Tamm was working as an attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, a secretive unit that oversees surveillance of terrorist and espionage targets. The decision to become a whistleblower has permanently altered Thomas Tamm’s life. Federal agents raided his home last year, and FBI agents have questioned his family and friends. He no longer works for the government. He suffers from depression and is $30,000 in debt. Tamm still faces possible arrest. Despite his current situation, Tamm said he has few regrets. In his first interview, Tamm told Newsweek, “I thought this was something the other branches of the government — and the public — ought to know about. So they could decide: do they want this massive spying program to be taking place?”