Snowden Attorney Radack, Daniel Ellsberg, NSA Whistleblower Drake to Speak at USC Annenberg
Summary: Next week, GAP’s Jesselyn Radack, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, and National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Tom Drake will speak at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism as part of GAP’s American Whistleblower Tour. The USC program, Patriot or Traitor? Whistleblowing and Journalism in the Age of Government Surveillance, will explore the critical balance between civil liberties and national security.
Deutsche Welle: Spiegel Report – NSA Spied on 122 World Leaders, Kept 300 Files on Merkel
Summary: Over the weekend, German media outlet Der Spiegel reported that the “NSA maintained a database of world leaders” as of May 2009 that contained 122 total names. This information was based on a document revealed by NSA whistleblower and GAP client Edward Snowden. The document also shows that the agency had more than 300 files on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
In related news, First Look‘s Glenn Greenwald penned this column yesterday about the NSA’s hypocracy in lambasting whistleblowers’ exposures of classified information while its own officials take the same actions for propaganda purposes.
Vermont Public Radio: Lawmakers Mull Protections for Whistleblowers
Summary: This article provides background information and an update on legislation in Vermont that would guarantee anonymity for government workers to report wrongdoing or illegal behavior to public bodies. Late last year, Vermont Auditor Doug Hoffer asked lawmakers to ensure whistleblowers’ anonymity, stating that his office could be compelled, under current law, to release the names of whistleblowers. The Vermont House of Representatives has already voted to enact the measure, and the “legislation looks to have a clear path through the Senate.”
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Whistleblower Suit Claims DuPont Ascension Parish Plant Leaked Cancer-Causing Gas
Summary: A recently-unsealed 2012 whistleblower lawsuit details allegations that a DuPont plant in a Louisiana parish “regularly leaked cancer-causing gas.” The plant is situated near residential neighborhoods and a primary school. The False Claims Act lawsuit alleges the company violated the “Toxic Substances Control Act by leaking sulfur trioxide.”
Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation’s leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.