McClatchy: Is Whistleblower Advocate for Nation’s Spies Under Attack?
Daniel Meyer, who formally served as the Department of Defense’s director of whistleblowing, and who currently works as the federal Executive Director for Intelligence Community Whistleblowing & Source Protection, is reportedly being targeted for suspension and having his top-secret access revoked by the Pentagon Inspector General. If this action moves forward, Meyer will no longer be able to carry out his duties.
Meyer is widely respected by the whistleblower-rights community, and was expected to improve the current state of the broken intelligence whistleblower reporting system, including those in place at the CIA and NSA.
Reportedly, this development is in relation to Meyer’s “representation of whistleblowers’ interests,” according to the article’s inside sources. More specifically, the action “stems from a controversy over whether the Pentagon inspector general mishandled an investigation into whether the filmmakers of the movie ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ received classified information about the Osama bin Laden raid, according to documents reviewed by McClatchy … At the time of the investigation into that leak, Meyer headed the Pentagon inspector general’s whistleblowing and transparency unit.”
Key Quote: “Dan Meyer has been a relentless advocate for whistleblowers in making sure they don’t fall through the cracks,” said one congressional staffer, who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the matter. “If action is taken against him, it could have a chilling effect on whistleblowers coming forward.”
Poultry Inspection Whistleblower Coming to Temple University
Today, GAP brings its American Whistleblower Tour to Temple University in Philadelphia. The stop features whistleblower Phyllis McKelvey, who has raised serious safety concerns about the USDA’s proposed poultry inspection model, and GAP Food Integrity Campaign Director Amanda Hitt, who will facilitate the discussion about the role whistleblowers play in protecting the public interest and food integrity.
Washington Post: Lawmakers Call on Commerce IG to Fire Top Managers After Misconduct
All of the members of a House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee have called on the Inspector General at the Commerce Department to terminate two of his top managers, after the U.S. Office of Special Counsel found that those officials “threatened subordinates with negative performance reviews if they did not sign gag agreements before moving to new jobs.”