Wall Street Journal: For Whistleblower Plans, a Grimm Proposal
The SEC is expected to roll out the long-awaited provisions for its whistleblower bounty program in July. A key point of debate has been whether financial whistleblowers -- those who this new program are meant to attract -- should be required to first raise concerns with their corrupt company's officials.
Now, Congressman Michael Grimm (R-NY) is expected to introduce federal legislation requiring that such whistleblowers first share their concerns with their corrupt companies, along with giving "the SEC leeway to deny bounties to people who otherwise meet the program’s requirements," and that "lawyers representing whistleblowers would be banned from working on a contingency-fee basis." It would be a terrible bill for whistleblowers and overall financial accountability.
Key Quote: “This is largely [a] public relations stunt,” said Jason Zuckerman, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., who represents whistleblowers. Zuckerman suspected the move is geared to put pressure on the SEC before the agency issues its final rules on the provision.
Secrecy News: House Intel Bill Mandates Insider Threat Detection
The House Intelligence Committee has called on the Director on National Intelligence (DNI) to "establish an automated insider threat detection program to deter and detect unauthorized access to, or use of, classified intelligence networks."
It's unclear exactly what this means, but with language contained within a provision of the recently-introduced Intelligence Authorization Act -- which would undermine Congress' ability to ensure proper checks on the Intelligence Community (IC), and afford IC agency heads sweeping new power to retaliate against national security whistleblowers -- this could be problematic.
GAP recently blogged on this controversial section of the bill, which grants the DNI and IC chiefs the unprecedented authority to penalize active and former IC employees – at a minimum taking away their pensions – based simply on the Director's subjective "determination" that an employee knowingly disclosed classified information to an unauthorized party.
ABC News: Whistleblower Claims Christmas Island Understaffed
An Australian whistleblower has come forward to claim that a key immigration detention facility, located on Christmas Island, is being grossly mismanaged. Allegations include that management has given inadequate guard staffing and training, and that there are many "unofficial guards" kept off the official books.
Chesapeake Bay Journal: Ruling Makes It Harder to Regulate Large Animal Operations' Discharges
A U.S. appellate court's ruling could make the EPA's ability to regulate farm pollution more difficult. The judges ruled that farm operations are not required under the Clean Water Act to obtain discharge permits merely because they are likely to discharge pollution.
Lindsay Bigda is Communications Fellow for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower advocacy organization.
