Washington, D.C. December 4, 2006. Mr. Bassem Youssef, a supervisory unit chief currently employed in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Detection Unit (CTD), will speak out publicly for the first time regarding grave deficiencies in America’s counterterrorism program. Mr. Youssef’s case will be highlighted on NBC Nightly News segment airing tonight.

Washington, D.C. October 11, 2006.  Today the National Whistleblowers Center released a copy of a sworn affidavit of Michael J. Heimbach, the Section Chief for the FBI’s top operational counterterrorism program – the International Terrorism Operations Section (“ITOS”).  In this affidavit, Mr. Heimbach admitted that the FBI has no agents employed within ITOS who are fluent in Arabic.  He also conceded that there are “no agent positions” in ITOS that “utilize the Arabic language as part of their ITOS duties or responsibilities.”

Washington, D.C. July 18, 2006. The Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility (“OPR”) found that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) violated the Whistleblower Protection Act and engaged in a “prohibited reprisal” against FBI Supervisory Special Agent/Unit Chief Bassem Youssef in retaliation for his “protected” whistleblower “disclosure.”

Washington, DC, October 19, 2005. The Washington Post "Style" section published a major feature article highlighting the life story of Ms. Bunnatine Greenhouse, America's most famous "Halliburton whistleblower."

Top Army Contracts Officer Blows the Whistle

Washington, D.C. - Oct. 8, 2002. A FBI Agent has accused bureau investigators of stealing a Tiffany crystal globe from the World Trade Center ruins. Special Agent Jane Turner of the FBI's Minneapolis office said she turned the globe over to the Justice Department's inspector general's office after local FBI officials would not act on her complaint.

April 25, 2002, Washington, DC. The Federal Bureau of Investigation Reform Act of 2002 was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. This bi-partisan bill will give the Department of Justice's inspector general authority to over see the FBI, which is an important step in obtaining accountability from the FBI. The Act also gives FBI whistleblowers the same rights given to other federal employees by the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989. "The reforms cannot be made soon enough, " stated Kris Kolesnik, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, "this was a necessary step taken by the committee with oversight responsibility and its a longtime coming." Mr. Kolesnik further added, "The Whistleblower provisions in particular promise to be much more effective than under the current process. If you are an FBI agent wanting to disclose wrongdoing in the FBI, your chances of being successful will now be much greater."

Some, however, think it will have the opposite effect, and it's drawing fire from some whistleblower groups.

March 9, 2010 (Politico). In a bid to secure a much-needed bipartisan victory, the Obama administration is trying to secure passage of protections for government whistleblowers. But some advocacy groups are complaining that the legislation does not go far enough to protect government employees in the national security field and, in fact, would roll back protections that FBI whistleblowers now have.