Dissenters' Digest for February 2013

Dissenters’ Digest for February 2013

Dissenters’ Digest takes a look at last month’s top stories covering whistleblowers, watchdogs, and government accountability.

Clear Conscience: U.S. Army whistleblower Bradley Manning pled guilty to 10 of 22 charges against him, offering a 35-page testimonial explaining why he released hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and other evidence of government misconduct to Wikileaks in January 2010.

Guilty of Purging Evidence: Former Special Counsel Scott Bloch pled guilty to erasing 3 government computers that may have contained whistleblower disclosures, retaliation complaints, and other sensitive memos. The charge may involve up to six months in jail.

30 Months in Prison: Ex-CIA spy John Kiriakou reported to prison to begin a 30-month sentence for disclosing the identity of an undercover CIA agent. Kiriakou came to prominence in 2007 for publicly reporting about the CIA’s torture program.

Below the Fold:

The Justice Department joined Floyd Landis’ whistleblower lawsuit against Lance Armstrong.
The whistleblower film SILENCED is in post-production, but questions loom whether the film will address certain inconvenient facts about its subjects.
A White House memo directing national security agencies to identify civil service jobs that should be stripped of civil service protections is worrying good government advocates.
The Justice Department considered input from good government groups that urged it to reform the FBI’s internal whistleblower protection processes.
Senator Chuck Grassley criticized the Internal Revenue Service for attempting to neuter its whistleblower program, in contravention of congressional intent.
The Office of Special Counsel urged the Merit Systems Protection Board to apply the newly-enacted Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act to a case that arose before the bill passed, citing the WPEA’s remedial purpose in protecting whistleblowers.

Dissenters’ Digest for July 22–August 4

1:32 pm in Uncategorized by MSPB Watch

ATF Director B. Todd Jones

Dissenters’ Digest takes a look back at news stories covering whistleblowers, watchdogs, and government accountability. Look for it every other Saturday evening at www.dissentersdigest.com.

Is the tide turning on whistleblower rights? There are signs of hope. First, ATF director B. Todd Jones clarified his remarks on what seemed to be a threat to his employees not to blow the whistle outside the chain of command. Now, Jones is reaffirming ATF employees’ rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Second, a psychologist who blew the whistle about child abuse on an Indian reservation and was harassed for it is no longer under duress. Congressional and media pressure has resulted in a full reversal of several adverse actions taken against him by the Indian Health Service.

Not so fast: The Food and Drug Administration is apparently engaging in a classic character assassination campaign against the ringleader of the FDA 9, a group of scientist/whistleblowers who have been targeted for spying and harassment. The New York Times served up what has been received as a biased, personality-focused hit piece, but not before the editorial board criticized the FDA for engaging in spying. In some ways, this ambiguity completely reflects how people feel about whistleblowers. Still, NYTimes, wtf?

Below the Fold:

–Department of Justice HR officials are implicated in a nepotism ring.

–Open government groups, led by the Government Accountability Project, issued rules for prior restraint of whistleblowers’ speech. I have called for the lead lobbyist’s resignation after the end of this congressional session.

–A Senate bill would provide new protections for anti-trust whistleblowers.

–UBS whistleblower Bradley Birkenfeld, who helped the IRS uncover the biggest tax fraud in U.S. history, has been released from prison after 30 months.

Send tips to dissent@dissentersdigest.com.

Tags: ATF, B. Todd Jones, Bradley Birkenfeld, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, Candelaria Martin, Department of Justice, Dissenters' Digest, DOJ, FDA, FDA 9, Food and Drug Administration, GAP, Government Accountability Project, IHS, Indian Health Service, Internal Revenue Service, IRS, Michael Tilus, Tom Devine, UBS, Yvette Roubideaux
Comments Off

You are browsing the archive for Internal Revenue Service.