Tom Drake is an American hero. He reported billions of dollars in waste and rampant civil liberties abuses by the NSA on a surveillance program. For his honesty, he was stripped of all official duties at the agency and faced criminal charges under the 1917 Espionage Act. Drake endured ten years of reprisals for blowing the whistle, and sadly, the Pentagon Inspector General’s Office only chose to inquire into five months within those ten years to find there was no evidence of retaliation…
Moreover, McClatchy reports that, “the news of the rejection comes as McClatchy has learned that the same officials [within the office] who are supposed to be helping whistleblowers such as Drake claim that they themselves have been forced to blow the whistle on their own office.”
Rejection of NSA whistleblower’s retaliation claim draws criticism
McClatchy
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Another troubling trend: the GAO reports that the DOJ rejects nearly 90 percent of whistleblower complaints by FBI employees.
GAO Outs Justice for Not Protecting Whistleblowers
The Fiscal Times
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In light of these reprisals against whistleblowers, this piece is particularly relevant. Edward Snowden gives tips to would-be whistleblowers and discusses what he would have done differently.
Edward Snowden gave tips to would-be whistleblowers during his Reddit AMA
The Independent