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UNDER CONSTRUCTION
In 1997 the case of FBI whistleblower Dr. Frederic Whitehurst prompted President Clinton to issue an executive order enforcing FBI whistleblower protections. These protections are not perfect, but they have allowed FBI employees to come forward and report civil liberties and civil rights abuses. Currently, the Senate is "hotlining" the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372), which means it could pass without any public debate or vote. This bill eliminates the protections FBI employees have currently. S. 372 must be fixed now.
TAKE ACTION NOW! Read Fred Whitehurst's letter and urge your Senator to contact the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to ensure S. 372 is fixed!
Why does the FBI want to get rid of protections provided under 5 U.S.C. § 2303?
Under 5 U.S.C § 2303, FBI whistleblowers have the right to independent review of their claim, either by the Office of the Inspector General or the Office of Professional Responsibility.
The following reports are examples of these independent reviews, which have resulting in findings critical of the FBI. It is no wonder they are lobbying aggressively to push S. 372 through the Senate. If S. 372 passes as is, independent IG and OPR investigations like those listed below, will cease to exist:
A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Use of Exigent Letters and Other Informal Requests for Telephone Records, January 2010
A Review of the FBI's Use of National Security Letters: Assessment of Corrective Actions and Examination of NSL Usage in 2006
A Review of the FBI's Actions in Connection With Allegations Raised by Contract Linguist Sibel Edmonds, January 2005
Investigation Regarding Removal of Tiffany Globe from the Fresh Kills Recovery Site, December 2003
A Review of the FBI's Response to John Roberts' Statements on 60 Minutes, February 2003
Double Standards Report
The FBI Laboratory: An Investigation into Laboratory Practices and Alleged Misconduct in Explosives-Related and Other Cases, April 1997
The FBI Laboratory One Year Later: A Follow-Up to the Inspector General\'s April 1997 Report on FBI Laboratory Practices and Alleged Misconduct in Explosives-Related and Other Cases, June 1998
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March 23, 2010. Washington, D.C. Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, has agreed to participate in an independent debate with Mr. Norman L. Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, regarding the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372), which is currently being "hotlined" in the Senate. Mr. Eisen has currently declined the invitation to participate in the debate.
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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 Senate will be marking up its version of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2009 (S. 372) this Wednesday. Now is the time to contact your Senators and President Obama and ask them to support adding jury trials for all federal employees, including national security employees.
Take Action! Demand Court Access for All Federal Employees!
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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.
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Changes to the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act currently working its way through the Senate would cover up intelligence failures and civil liberties abuses in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by repealing existing protections for FBI whistleblowers and strengthening the state secrets privilege.
Mary Jane Wilmoth: truthout reports WPEA being "hotlined"
The bill is currently being "hotlined" through the Senate, which entails both the Senate majority leader and minority leader agreeing to pass the legislation by unanimous consent without a roll-call vote. This practice is usually used to pass uncontroversial bills and simple procedural motions, but opponents fear it is being used to push through this measure with little or no public debate.
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.
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.
Are jury trials better protection or just "window dressing"?
OhMyGov! August 24, 2009. A new whistleblower bill, the Whistleblower Enhancement Act of 2009, passed the Senate in late July to decidedly mixed reviews.
"This significantly strengthens protections of whistleblowers," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) of the Senate bill. But the praise is far from universal.
TAKE ACTION
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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