It doesn't seem like this was a proper whistle blower case. She did not use good judgement here, in my opinion.

But her punishment was overly harsh. Especially if you consider how much the federal government leaks, and how few people are prosecuted for it, and how little harm it does in most cases.

She was made an example of precisely because she was a low-level employee with no power or connections. Which is obviously wrong on a very deep level. And that's the big story here.