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Fighting for Whistleblowers
Perpetual and highly questionable delays by the Department of Justice are preventing resolution of important whistleblower cases involving the FBI. The cases of two whistleblowers have been going on for more than nine years and four years, respectively. Last week, I asked the Attorney General and his top deputy to account for how the bureaucracy has handled these cases.
Federal agencies are inherently and historically resistant to the good that whistleblowers do in identifying and speaking out against mismanagement, abuse, waste and even fraud. Whistleblowers act at great personal professional risk. They deserve rewards but more often receive retaliation. That’s just what is happening to the FBI whistleblowers.
The process of adjudicating claims at the Department of Justice is broken. There’s no excuse, and my message to the Attorney General is that the process needs to be fixed. It needs to work because whistleblowers bring about accountability and reform. I also want Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and his deputy Jim Cole to uphold their pledges to help whistleblowers. The way the agency is handling the FBI cases contradicts their promises.
I’ve worked for passage of legislation to protect whistleblowers, in both the public and private sectors. And I’m committed to keeping the pressure on the leadership of federal agencies to do right by whistleblowers. Officials tend to say the right things at congressional hearings and on the public record about whistleblowers but making sure whistleblowers are safeguarded and valued in practice is a constant challenge.
This year, whistleblowers played a pivotal role in exposing the failed government policy known as Operation Fast and Furious. The Department of Justice tried to smear one of those brave individuals. I will continue to watchdog and speak out on behalf of whistleblowers and against a federal agency culture that too often shuns the truth they speak and goes after the individuals who care enough to stick out their necks.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Perpetual and highly questionable delays by the Department of Justice are preventing resolution of important whistleblower cases involving the FBI. The cases of two whistleblowers have been going on for more than nine years and four years, respectively. Last week, I asked the Attorney General and his top deputy to account for how the bureaucracy has handled these cases.
Federal agencies are inherently and historically resistant to the good that whistleblowers do in identifying and speaking out against mismanagement, abuse, waste and even fraud. Whistleblowers act at great personal professional risk. They deserve rewards but more often receive retaliation. That’s just what is happening to the FBI whistleblowers.
The process of adjudicating claims at the Department of Justice is broken. There’s no excuse, and my message to the Attorney General is that the process needs to be fixed. It needs to work because whistleblowers bring about accountability and reform. I also want Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and his deputy Jim Cole to uphold their pledges to help whistleblowers. The way the agency is handling the FBI cases contradicts their promises.
I’ve worked for passage of legislation to protect whistleblowers, in both the public and private sectors. And I’m committed to keeping the pressure on the leadership of federal agencies to do right by whistleblowers. Officials tend to say the right things at congressional hearings and on the public record about whistleblowers but making sure whistleblowers are safeguarded and valued in practice is a constant challenge.
This year, whistleblowers played a pivotal role in exposing the failed government policy known as Operation Fast and Furious. The Department of Justice tried to smear one of those brave individuals. I will continue to watchdog and speak out on behalf of whistleblowers and against a federal agency culture that too often shuns the truth they speak and goes after the individuals who care enough to stick out their necks.
Monday, November 21, 2011