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S. 372 repeals existing FBI protections and expands state secrets privilege

Washington, D.C. March 10, 2010.  Prominent national security whistleblowers and advocacy groups issued a letter today urging the Senate to vote against the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 (S. 372) unless the dangerous national security whistleblower provisions are corrected.  This bill, which is currently being “hotlined” for unanimous consent, repeals existing FBI protections and strengthens the state secrets privilege.

The letter, signed by national security whistleblowers and respected advocates for national security employees, explains in detail the deficiencies in the Senate bill that will harm national security by covering up intelligence failures and civil liberties abuses:

The Whistleblower Protection Act (S. 372) is pending in the Senate and seeks to clarify the rules and protections that cover whistleblowers.

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

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Washington Times. August 20, 2009. White House attorneys have backed away from an effort to weaken legal protections for FBI whistleblowers in a bill now before Congress, according to advocacy groups in negotiations with the Obama administration.

Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Government Accountability Project (GAP) and Project on Government Oversight (POGO) said this week that they were given guarantees that protections for FBI whistleblowers - federal employees who uncover fraud and waste - would be restored in a Senate bill when Congress returns in September.

The shift follows a report in The Washington Times earlier this month about the uproar among civil liberties groups and past FBI whistleblowers about proposed changes in the bill, which critics said would strip existing rights for FBI whistleblowers who expose fraud or misdeeds.

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Washington Times. August 18, 2009. FBI whistleblower Frederic Whitehurst spent close to a decade fighting the Clinton White House to win limited protections for his brethren in the intelligence community willing to risk their careers to expose wrongdoing.

Now critics say the Obama administration is seeking to strip away those protections, and Mr. Whitehurst predicts the effort will set national intelligence employees back decades in their efforts to expose fraud and corruption.

"It's very dangerous thing that [President Obama] has done. That he would allow that as touting himself as a president of the people is astonishing," Mr. Whitehurst said.

Washington, D.C. February 26, 2009.  In 1993, the NWC took on the daunting task of documenting forensic fraud and abuses in the world-renowned FBI crime lab. This effort was led by former FBI SSA Dr. Frederic Whitehurst. 

Panel Questions FBI Analysis

By Randolphe E. Schimd, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - A scientific panel is questioning a method used by the FBI to match bullets from crime scenes, a finding that could give defense lawyers a new route to attack prosecution evidence.

By Leonard Post, National Law Journal
Monday, April 4, 2005

Court TV: Dr. Whitehurst's allegations against the FBI crime lab.