Hi Friend,
In the past month, we have seen two signs that despite the intense partisanship affecting our country at this moment, the support of the public and decision makers for whistleblowing remains broad and deep.
Earlier this week, the Whistleblower News Network (where I serve as advisor) released a Marist poll showing that the American public considers corporate fraud a national priority and wants to help whistleblowers who expose it. When asked if passing stronger laws that protect employees who report corporate fraud should be a priority for Congress, 82 percent of those surveyed (81 percent of likely voters) agreed. Republicans (74%) felt nearly as strong on this question as Democrats (88%), showing that the partisan battles over whistleblowing at the time of President Trump’s impeachment have had no effect on bipartisan support for whistleblower protection. The poll shows similar support for protecting federal government whistleblowers.
In addition, as discussed below, roughly two weeks ago, the National Whistleblower Center’s (NWC) two-year campaign at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to safeguard protections for securities fraud and commodities fraud whistleblowers came to a close. I am very pleased to report that the SEC adopted most of NWC’s recommendations, including abandoning two harmful proposals and putting in place new assurances of rewards for whistleblowers with relatively small cases. We could not have achieved this victory without incredible supporters like you. Your comments – over 110,000 of them – were the most ever submitted on an SEC whistleblower program proposal and clearly showed the SEC that passionate supporters of whistleblowers are watching its work.
At a time when corruption is creating major obstacles to solving the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and so many other societal problems, this kind of activism is needed more than ever.
Sincerely,
John Kostyack
Executive Director
