Fact Check
Whistleblower Relations Under the Microscope
TSA Whistleblower Robert MacLean was recently interviewed by Peter B. Collins, along with MacLean’s attorney, Tom Devine. The entire interview is worth listening but this exchange was particularly poignant (it may not be up yet–this post will be updated when it is). Peter B. Collins, at 31:49: Now Robert, as I mentioned, I’ve talked with […]
Separating Fact from Speculation at the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General
The Washington Post reported today that two former special agents at the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General pleaded guilty to “filing false expense claims and committing attendance fraud.” The article also noted that the former agents’ boss, Todd J. Zinser, accused them of “carrying out a destructive campaign of disparagement and false allegations against […]
Fact Check: POGO Reinforces Myth of “No Safe Channel” for National Security Whistleblowers
In a Huffington Post article April 16, Project of Government Oversight Executive Director Danielle Brian lamented the purported lack of avenues for national security whistleblowers. As stated in the article, Until Congress does act, said Brian, leakers’ only recourse will be through journalists, Congress’s “worst fear.” “Those national security employees who feel like they have to do […]
Firedoglake: Can It Be Both a ‘Progressive News Site’ and an ‘Action Organization’ in Its Present State?
Allow me to juxtapose some notions and statements that may not be compatible. From the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics: Journalists should: — Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived. — Remain free of associations and activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility. — Disclose unavoidable conflicts. From a Dissenter post titled […]
Fact Check Update: NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake All But Concedes GAP NDAA Amicus Was Premised on False Statement
In a Firedoglake discussion, NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake said the following: During the 2001-2006 timeframe, OSC was not in a position to properly process the very sensitive (and even highly classified disclosures I made to Congress and later to the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General) involving intelligence activities and programs at the NSA. […]
GAP’s Retroactivity Advocacy: Blustery and Revisionist
In an expected but disappointing bit of revisionism, GAP today claimed that the retroactivity issue in Day v. Department of Homeland Security is not a “close question”; that “[l]egislative history could not have been clearer had it been spelled out in the statute”; and that the WPEA is a clarifying statute that ”does not require statutory language for retroactive […]
Are Good Government Groups Quick to Praise the New Special Counsel?
Is it too soon to say things like: With this remarkable record and the extraordinary leadership of Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner, we can expect that as disclosures continue to skyrocket and the caseload grows, OSC will handle their investigations and litigation with utmost efficiency and integrity. As POGO did just this past week, or: The […]
GAP Calls for More Funding for OSC, Does Not Cite Amount Needed
The Government Accountability Project blogged today that it joined the Project on Government Oversight and others in calling for more funding for the Office of Special Counsel earlier this week. As mentioned at the time, the devil is in the details, and the details are scant. By contrast, when GAP led the charge in 2012 […]
A Few Questions for Filmmaker James Spione about SILENCED
SILENCED, a new film about whistleblowers by filmmaker James Spione, is currently in post-production. The film features three GAP clients (Thomas Drake, John Kiriakou, and Peter Van Buren) and one GAP employee (Jesselyn Radack). Here is the trailer. The film’s promotional material states it will be “offering an analysis, along with a number of independent […]
