What the United Nations and President Trump have in Common When it Comes to Whistleblowers
What the United Nations and President Trump have in Common When it Comes to Whistleblowers: Hostile Responses to Whistleblowers Plague the United Nations By Gabrielle Simeck and Samantha Feinstein Since a confidential intelligence community (IC) whistleblower’s complaint regarding a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine President [...]
A Comparative Analysis of U.S. v E.U. Whistleblower Law
A Comparative Analysis of U.S. v E.U. Whistleblower Law By Samantha Feinstein and Tom Devine On April 16, 2019, the European Parliament approved the European Union (EU) Whistleblower Directive, formally called the “Directive on the Protection of Persons Reporting on Breaches of Union Law.” The Directive is legally binding and [...]
Dr. George Luber, CDC’s Persecuted Climate & Health Expert, Files Whistleblower Protection Claim
Dr. George Luber, CDC's Persecuted Climate & Health Expert, Files Whistleblower Protection Claim By Anne Polansky We recently wrote about the plight of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Climate and Health Program and the political persecution of its former chief, epidemiologist Dr. George Luber. This courageous truth-teller [...]
Five Things Not To Do If You Want to be a Successful National Security Whistleblower
Five Things Not To Do If You Want to be a Successful National Security Whistleblower Inspired by the Official Secrets film By Gabrielle Simeck The new film Official Secrets recounts the powerful story of Katharine Gun, a former translator and specialist at a British intelligence agency, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), [...]
The Problem at the Heart of Puerto Rico’s Multiple Crises
Adam Arnold, Government Accountability Project Investigator and Environmental Counsel, lives in San Juan just a few blocks from La Fortaleza –the Governor’s residence and focal point of the recent protests which led to Governor Rosselló’s resignation. He is observing conditions as they unfold. Puerto Rico suffers from a history of [...]
The Real “Unreasonable”: How the UK uses this Vague Term to Deny Rights to Whistleblowers with Retaliation-Trauma Symptoms
The Real Unreasonable: How the UK uses this Vague Term to Deny Rights to Whistleblowers with Retaliation-Trauma Symptoms By Abby Price In Great Britain, appearance, rather than merit, serves as a basis for justice in whistleblower retaliation cases. Employment tribunals, independent bodies within the national judicial system authorized to hear [...]
Supreme Court Resolves Statute of Limitations for Qui Tam Suits Which the Government Declines
Supreme Court Resolves Statute of Limitations for Qui Tam Suits Which the Government Declines By Christopher Byrd A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Cochise Consultancy, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Hunt that private relators with knowledge of False Claims Act (FCA) violations may have up to 10 years [...]
Defense News: Shanahan’s gag rule memo nets bipartisan backlash
This article was originally published here. Shanahan's Gag Rule Memo Nets Bipartisan Backlash WASHINGTON ― The top Democrat and Republican of the House Armed Services Committee said Wednesday they will act against acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan’s new restrictions on how the Pentagon tells Congress about international military operations. HASC [...]
Oversight of the UN is a Road to Nowhere
Oversight of the UN is a Road to Nowhere: UN Deflection and Distraction from Peacekeepers’ Sexual Exploitation and Abuse By Gabrielle Simeck On April 30th, the House Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held an open hearing on “UN Peacekeeping Operations in Africa,” [...]
Boeing, Theranos, & the Cost of Secrecy
Boeing, Theranos, & the Cost of Secrecy By Gabrielle Simeck Boeing is a world renowned aircraft manufacturer, the largest in the United States. Theranos is a now-defunct health technology company that plummeted from a value of $9 billion to zero. What do they have in common? More than you’d [...]
Assessment of European Union Whistleblower Directive
Assessment of European Union Whistleblower Directive By: Tom Devine, Government Accountability Project Legal Director The European Union Whistleblower Directive is a landmark for freedom of speech, and it is far stronger than anyone had realistically hoped would be achieved. However, in order to obtain consensus, some of the most [...]
Memories of Ernie Fitzgerald: A Memorial from Tom Devine
Memories of Ernie Fitzgerald A Memorial from Government Accountability Projects Legal Director, Tom Devine This note is to give credit to the man who molded my vision for activism during the last 40 years and my work with over 7,000 whistleblowers. Ernie Fitzgerald recently died, but his legacy has taken [...]
Sunshine Week: An Annual Reminder of The Importance of Government Transparency and the Freedom of Information
In 2005, the American Society of News Editors (ASNE) launched the first annual Sunshine Week. Beginning initially as a national public awareness campaign to spark conversations about government transparency and the freedom of information, Sunshine Week has grown into a robust series of events, webinars, and panels dedicated to the [...]
Five Years After Snowden Blew the Whistle, The NSA Shutters Controversial Program
Program’s Shutdown Highlights Impact of Former Government Accountability Project Client On March 4th, The New York Times reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) had shut down a major data-collection program that had faced prolonged criticism over its expansive reach. In 2013, Edward Snowden, then an NSA contractor with [...]
State of (Un)Accountability: Trump’s Declaration of Emergency and Its Impact on Government Accountability
On February 15, President Trump declared a National State of Emergency following his failure to secure congressional approval for border wall funding. In a last-minute deal to avoid a second government shutdown, legislators agreed on February 14 to finance $1.375 billion in funding for fencing along the southern border. The [...]
Guest Blog: Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Protection Post-Digital Realty
This guest blog was written by Matt Stock and Jason Zuckerman [1]. As revealed in its 2018 Annual Report to Congress, the SEC Whistleblower Program has been successful in enhancing the SEC’s efforts to root out securities fraud and protect investors. In particular, whistleblower tips have enabled the SEC to recover [...]
Government Accountability Project Mourns the Loss of Mickey Glazer
It is with great sadness that Government Accountability Project learned of the passing of Mickey Glazer. Dr. Glazer was a profound intellectual and author of one of the most groundbreaking books on whistleblowing ever written, The Whistleblowers: Exposing Corruption in Government and Industry. An academic, civic activist, and longtime friend [...]
Speaking Up for Science: New Support for Science Whistleblowers
At Government Accountability Project, we believe that truth deserves a champion. That is why, for more than 40 years, we have assisted over 8,000 whistleblowers, some of the most impactful being science professionals. Employees in diverse fields in both the public and private sector have exercised their integrity, and their [...]
White House Whistleblower Suspended After Complaint Goes Public
Tricia Newbold, who worked in the White House Security Office for 18 years, was suspended less than a week after NBC News reported on Newbold’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaint against her boss, Carl Kline. The initial article, which was published on Jan. 24, focused on Kline and reports that he [...]
From Ünker to Khashoggi, Regimes Crack Down on Journalists
Gabrielle Simeck, January 14, 2019 Last Tuesday, Turkish journalist, Pelin Ünker, was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Her crime: doing her job. In 2017, Ünker reported that Binali Yıldırım, former Prime Minister of Turkey and current speaker of the national assembly, and his sons owned five offshore companies in Malta. Ünker’s [...]