With less than a month to go before July 30th, the 11th annual National Whistleblower Day celebration is ramping up. National Whistleblower Center (NWC) has assembled an inspiring roster of speakers for the event, which will be held on Capitol Hill. Previously announced presenters, such as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Army Corps Whistleblower Dr. Tommie “Toni” Savage, exemplify the roster’s range of leadership positions in Congress and leading federal agencies, as well as former whistleblowers.
In this Sunday Read, we will learn more about some of new and familiar presenters set to lead the live, in-person event on July 30th.
Jane Turner
FBI Whistleblower, NWC Board Member
Either by reputation, sight or sound, prior National Whistleblower Day attendees and any NWC visitor will recognize Jane Turner. She is a highly decorated former FBI Special Agent with 25 years of service, and the host of the Whistleblower Network News podcast, “Whistleblower of the Week.”
She broke new ground as the first woman to lead an FBI resident agency and held some of the bureau’s most demanding investigative assignments. Turner spearheaded successful initiatives addressing crimes against women and child sexual abuse on North Dakota’s Indian Reservations.
After exposing serious failures in the FBI’s child crimes program, Turner faced retaliation and was removed from her senior resident agent position. She fought back and secured a landmark victory for FBI whistleblowers before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. In a separate federal court case, she won a unanimous jury verdict and received the maximum compensatory damages allowed by law for a federal employee.
Turner also blew the whistle on FBI agents who stole items from the 9/11 crime scene—reporting the misconduct to the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General (OIG). She endured years of intense retaliation as a result. After a decade-long legal battle, Turner prevailed, becoming one of the few FBI agents to win under the FBI Whistleblower Protection Act.
An abridged account of her landmark ordeal was chronicled in Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right, written by NWC Founder and Chairman of the Board Stephen M. Kohn, who later represented Turner in her retaliation suit against the FBI.
Revered as an authority on the topic, Turner has been interviewed by worldwide news outlets like Rolling Stone and CNN on whistleblower stories. Read more about Turner and see her in 2021 moderating a discussion with fellow FBI whistleblowers, Dr. Frederic Whitehurst and Robert Kobus.
Cynthia Lie
Acting Director, CFTC Whistleblower Office
Cynthia Lie oversees the CFTC Whistleblower Program, which offers monetary awards and anti-retaliation protections to whistleblowers reporting commodities fraud.
Lie spent 15 years at the DOJ as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, working in the Fraud and Financial Crimes Unit, Major Crimes Unit, and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
Following her DOJ tenure, Lie served for six years at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) OIG, first as Deputy Counsel and later as Division Chief. In that role, she managed and oversaw high-stakes investigations, including False Claims Act (FCA) matters and complex financial fraud cases.
During this period, Lie established the DHS whistleblower protection and investigations program. This program provided a formal structure for handling retaliation complaints and protecting disclosures under relevant statutes.
Lie also led the Whistleblower Protection Unit (WPU), the dedicated investigative team within DHS OIG. The WPU handles retaliation claims under statutes such as:
- The Military Whistleblower Protection Act
- Presidential Policy Directive 19 (PPD‑19)
- Security clearance breach laws (50 U.S.C. § 3341)
- Contractor and grantee whistleblower enhancements (41 U.S.C. § 4712)
More than 200 complaints were reviewed in a recent six-month period, resulting in several formal investigations.
The CFTC Whistleblower Program has allowed the commission to recover more than $3.2 billion from fraudsters since it was established in 2010. It has correspondingly awarded more than $390 million to qualified whistleblowers. According to the CFTC, approximately 42% of all the agency’s enforcement actions involve whistleblowers.
Dr. Aaron J. Westrick
Qui Tam Police Whistleblower
Dr. Aaron Westrick’s impact on whistleblowing shined a light on how corruption can also permeate the supply chain of policing – putting all officers at risk. A former research director for America’s largest body armor company, Second Chance Body Armor, Westrick blew the whistle on the production and sale of defective vests that were sold to police officers.
Filed in 2004 and joined by the DOJ, the suit alleged that Second Chance and the Toyobo Company knowingly sold defective bullet-proof vests to police officers throughout the U.S. Whistleblower attorneys supported by NWC represented Dr. Westrick in a FCA qui tam complaint filed against the manufacturers of the vests and the manufacturers of the Zylon fiber within the vests.
The NWC lauded the support of the Fraternal Order of Police, the world’s largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers, which in 2005 publicly endorsed Dr. Westrick’s lawsuit.
After a 14-year legal battle, a conclusion was reached with all defendants eventually paying to settle allegations of an FCA violation. His case demonstrated how whistleblowing can also be an extremely effective tool to prevent substandard equipment from being issued to officers and possibly save lives.
Dr. Westrick was a featured speaker at NWC’s 2018 National Whistleblower Appreciation Day Celebration on Capitol Hill, which can be viewed on NWC’s YouTube channel.
National Whistleblower Day: A Top NWC Priority
Establishing a permanent National Whistleblower Day is one of the NWC’s seven campaigns. An official act would mandate that all federal agencies honor the day, provide whistleblower training to their employees, and celebrate the contributions that whistleblowers have made to democracy and society.
Final National Whistleblower Day speakers will be announced soon and added towww.nationalwhistleblowerday.org. Subscribe to the Sunday Read series for more announcements and preview coverage.
You can join the waitlist for this year’s event, which will be exclusively in-person. You can also contribute to a separate fundraiser for the Day, with unique gifts for donors.
Additional Resources
The decision to come forward is not one to be taken lightly, nor should selecting a whistleblower lawyer. NWC provides resources that can connect you with the right legal professional before taking any action.
Support NWC
NWC works tirelessly to strengthen whistleblower programs and educate the public about their value. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, our work relies on donors like you.
💙 Donate today to help us continue advocating for whistleblowers.
🎁 Special Offers: Donors of $50 or more will receive a free copy of Rules for Whistleblowers: A Handbook for Doing What’s Right.
🎁 Donors of $100+ will receive Rules For Whistleblowers and an exclusive NWC t-shirt.
This story was written by Justin Smulison, a professional writer, podcaster, and event host based in New York.
