WhistleblowerSupporter

Federal Oversight: A Failure to Act

 I am reposting this earlier blog post due to the interest lately in Hanford problems.  GFS

 

by G. Florence Scott

 

My comments are referenced to the situation ably described by the Project on Government Oversight's (POGO) Beth Daley in her testimony at the Office of Special Council (OSC)/Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) hearing July 12, 2007.  (http://www.pogo.org/p/government/gt-070712-osc.html)

 

It is good that talk and dialogue continues regarding the OSC and MSPB and the environment for whistleblowers in the federal government.  However it is important to realize that the sum total effect of the inactivity of real accomplishment means that real people's lives are being affected, and in some cases, ruined and families torn apart.  One federal employee over the course of his/her career conducted a number of serious investigations with regard to the inappropriate handling and mishandling of classified national security information and technology.

 

In one investigation, the Investigator was called in by a Security Specialist from the Dept. of Energy (DOE), to investigate the refusal of DOE management to take their investigative findings seriously.  The Department of Defense (DOD) Investigator was dispatched along with a second Investigator, to investigate the allegations.  The DOD Investigators met with a DOE scientist, and the DOE Security Specialist, making the allegations.  The DOE scientist, and Security Specialist provided sworn statements and documented evidence was provided to the DOD investigators.

 

Upon return to the DOD field office, the Investigators wrote a classified report of findings.  What had been shared with the DOD was a DOE security program out of control.  The evidence documented critical nuclear weapons design information (CNWDI), and fissionable nuclear material being improperly stored at a DOE facility.  The report was appropriately classified, and appropriately forwarded through channels to the DOD headquarters.  Several weeks later, the DOD field office received a telephone call from one of the DOD headquarters personnel who had read the report.  The comment made to the DOD investigators was:  “And what do you expect me to do with this?”

 

The field personnel said that they expected it to be briefed to the DOE Director, believing that the problem was extremely serious, and when disclosed, would be addressed and fixed by the DOE Director.   At that point, the DOD headquarters individual said:  “If you think that DOD headquarters is gonna walk over to the director of the DOE and brief her on the fact that she has fissionable nuclear material being improperly stored, you're out of your God damned mind!"

 

The effect of this DOD management level person's refusal to do his job was that good people within the DOE that wanted to do the right thing were left swinging in the wind.  For the past 10 years, these people's lives have been Hell.  The scientist was forced to relocate to another DOE facility; one much more remote to his/her family, by DOE and commutes back to his/her home several times a year, time permitting.  The DOE Security Specialist that tried to do the right thing, and when all appropriate channels failed within the DOE, then reported it to the DOD, found that DOD miserably failed them also.  For the past 10 plus years, that person's career has been lost and their life has been ruined.  They have lost almost everything they owned. 

And nothing has changed.  It's time to get past just talking about this.  It is time to DO something!

 

Whistleblowers Speak Up at the National Press Conference

This came from a group I belong to earlier this week.  I post it here for all to read.  If you are interested in joining the group, it is Whistleblower 411 on Yahoo. 

GFS

 

Whistleblowers give shocking testimony at the national press conference in Washington, D.C.

On July 19, 2010, at a press conference held at the National Press Club, major government "Watch Dog" organizations, Whistleblower protection organizations, and numerous Whistleblowers came together in support of a new direction for the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).   Some of the organizations in attendance were: The National Federation of Federal Government Employees (NFFE); The National Whistleblower Center; U.S. Justice Watch, the Federal Ethics Center and The Government Accountability Project (GAP).   OSC is the primary governmental agency tasked with the protection of our most important watchdogs on the front lines of our national security, government employees and the military.

 

The press conference, sponsored by U.S. Justice Watch ( www.USJUSTICEWATCH.com) ,  brought these organizations together to support and endorse Attorney Dave Nolan for Special Counsel and  government Whistleblower Darlene F. Price as his Deputy.   Nolan would replace the former Special Counsel for the Office of Special Counsel, Scott Bloch.  Scott Bloch's criminal sentence hearing is scheduled for July 23rd.  Although Bloch plead guilty only to withholding information from the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, he was also accused by many of retaliating against his own agency employees and failing to protect federal Whistleblowers. 

 

During the press conference several Whistleblowers had an opportunity to tell their amazing yet most disturbing stories in order to demonstrate how the ineffectiveness of OSC has brought real harm to citizens, and why OSC is so important.  Some of this testimony was not only shocking, but heart-wrenching as well.

 

The most compelling was the testimony of  Gary Vander Boegh.  Mr. Vander Boegh was a contract engineer at the Paducah, Kentucky Gaseous Diffusion Plant for many years.  He and his boss were "conveniently" fired after he began to report serious environmental crimes of  improper/illegal dumping  of radiological (enriched uranium), hazardous waste in Western Kentucky.  Mr. Vander Boegh alleged that these crimes have been going on for years and continue to be "covered up" by numerous government officials with the Department of Energy (DOE), KY Senator Mitch McConnell and Representative Ed Whitfield - just to name a few.

 

This illegal dumping has contaminated not only the ground in the surrounding area of Paducah, KY, but has also involved releasing hazardous radiological gases into the air where it has the potential to spread as far as the wind may take it.  This cover-up has led to widespread cancer clusters in the surrounding area, and currently endangers the tri-state area of KY, ILL, and OH.  To view this terrifying testimony go to:www.USJUSTICEWATCH.com.

 

Also videotaped at the press conference was the heart wrenching story of Jim Faller, founder of U.S. Justice Watch.  Mr. Faller described being wrongfully held in custody without a trial by corrupt federal agents and prosecutors. This happened after he exposed that government officials were allowing large amounts of money to be funneled to the terrorist organization PPK, a Marxist-Leninist Radical Islamic, TERRORIST group of Kurds trying to establish an independent Kurdish state in Eastern Turkey.  You may view his Presentation also at: www.USJUSTICEWATCH.com.

 

Statements (oral and written) from the following Whistleblowers were also submitted in support of Attorney Dave Nolan's nomination:

 

Joe Carson, licensed Professional Engineer, Facility Representative - safety inspector, Department of Energy (DOE), Oak Ridge, TN.

 

Darlene Fitzgerald Price, Former Special Agent and Author: "BorderGate, the story the government doesn't want you to read."

 

Former FBI Agent and Time Magazine's person of the year, Coleen Rowley

 

Carol Czardowski, former Department of the Navy employee

 

Sandy Nunn, former Special Agent, U.S. Customs Service.

 

Mark Danielson, former Department of Energy, Special Response Team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

 

Larry Fisher, Founder, National Accountant Whistleblower Coalition, http://www.nawbc.com

 

Environmental Protection Agency Staff Accountant, GS-14

 

 

 

Janet Howard, former Department of Commerce employee and Whistleblower who reported the commercial airliner that flew by the Capitol on 9-11, just above tree level. Designated as the "Class Agent" for all Department of Commerce African American Employees.

 

Dorothy Pritchett, DOE, employee, the proposed "Class Agent" for African American Employees at the Dept of Energy Headquarters, who reported illegalities by a first cousin of a powerful U.S. Senator.

 

Joseph Santos, Former DOE intern, who was denied the promise tuition assistance and terminated after he blew the whistle on the same powerful U.S. Senator mentioned above.

 

Caroline E. Williams, Former DOE Headquarters employee, terminated after reporting financial irregularities of the very same first cousin of a powerful U.S. Senator mentioned above.

 

For more information regarding this press conference please feel free to contact:

 

Jim Faller at: www.USJUSTICEWATCH.com

 

Darlene Fitzgerald Price at: (606) 310-0078

 

Attorney Dave Nolan at: (703) 780-1864

Defense Contractors, Greedy Insurance Companies and the Epidemic of Suicides After Middle East Service

The conclusion that it is all personally-manifested mental illness causing the bizarre behavior and suicides does not fly with me.  This man was a Marine, and certainly was well trained to withstand stress in a war zone.  I really do believe there are other elements contributing to this problem, both for military personnel who serve in the Middle East, as well as the civilian contractors who do the same.  It seems to me that physical causes must exist due to perhaps some exposure to something chemical or biological, (natural or man created), which may contribute to the mental/emotional symptoms.  As long as companies like KBR are allowed to spin the investigations and evidence, we may never know the truth.  Refusal to come through with the insurance in these cases, should be considered a criminal investigation by our government, and treated as such.  GFS

The Other Victims of Battlefield Stress; Defense Contractors' Mental Health Neglected

Friday 26 February 2010

by: T. Christian Miller, ProPublica

Excerpt: 

Redding, California - Wade Dill does not figure into the toll of war dead. An exterminator, Dill took a job in Iraq for a company contracted to do pest control on military bases. There, he found himself killing disease-carrying flies and rabid dogs, dodging mortars and huddling in bomb shelters.

Dill, a Marine Corps veteran, was a different man when he came back for visits here, his family said: moody, isolated, morose. He screamed at his wife and daughter. His weight dropped. Dark circles haunted his dark brown eyes.

Three weeks after he returned home for good, Dill booked a room in an anonymous three-story motel alongside Interstate 5. There, on July 16, 2006, he shot himself in the head with a 9 mm handgun. He left a suicide note for his wife and a picture for his daughter, then 16. The caption read: "I did exist and I loved you.''

More than three years later, Dill's loved ones are still reeling, their pain compounded by a drawn-out battle with an insurance company over death benefits from the suicide. Barb Dill, 47, nearly lost the family’s home to foreclosure. "We’re circling the drain," she said.

While suicide among soldiers has been a focus of Congress and the public, relatively little attention has been paid to the mental health of tens of thousands of civilian contractors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. When they make the news at all, contractors are usually in the middle of scandal, depicted as cowboys, wastrels or worse.

No agency tracks how many civilian workers have killed themselves after returning from the war zones. A small study in 2007 found that 24 percent of contract employees from DynCorp, a defense contractor, showed signs of depression or post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, after returning home. The figure is roughly equivalent to those found in studies of returning soldiers.

If the pattern holds true on a broad scale, thousands of such workers may be suffering from mental trauma, said Paul Brand, the CEO of Mission Critical Psychological Services, a firm that provides counseling to war zone civilians. More than 200,000 civilians work in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the most recent figures.

"There are many people falling through the cracks, and there are few mechanisms in place to support these individuals,'' said Brand, who conducted the study while working at DynCorp."There's a moral obligation that's being overlooked. Can the government really send people to a war zone and neglect their responsibility to attend to their emotional needs after the fact?"  (Read on)

Link to original:  http://www.truthout.org/defense-contractors%E2%80%99-mental-health-neglected57255

Guantanamo: Sargeant blows the whistle on alleged suicides.

 

I know other federal agents who have had similar distasteful professional interfacings with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).  These agents have confided that other criminal investigations have been completely mishandled by these two agencies, thereby severely hampering or derailing investigations that should have proceeded to criminal prosecutions.  GFS

 

* * * * * * *

 

From Harper’s Magazine:

 

The Guantánamo “Suicides”: A Camp Delta sergeant blows the whistle

 

By Scott Horton   January 18, 9:00 AM, 2010

This is the full text of an exclusive advance feature by Scott Horton that will appear in the March 2010 Harper’s Magazine. The issue will be available on newsstands the week of February 15.

 

Link to original:   http://www.harpers.org/archive/2010/01/hbc-90006368

 

The Franken “Jamie Leigh Jones” amendment Enacted into Law

 Defense contractors must now air dirty deeds in public

January 17, 2010 — Ms Sparky

Defense contractors such as KBR can no longer hide behind the closed doors of secret binding arbitration for serious issues such as discrimination, harassment, rape and assault. No longer with KBR and others be able to violate Title VII Laws and then just sweep them under the rug behind closed doors. Those abusive criminal managers who have been in place for years are finally going to cost them some money and Heather Browne, KBR’s Communications Director is going to be working overtime. Well done, Jamie Leigh Jones and thank you Al Franken for taking these issue seriously. Hopefully this is just the first in a series of laws to protect defense contractor employees.

For those who respond to every dispute or disagreement here on MsSparky.com with “You signed a contract”. You can’t sign away law

See rest of story here:  http://mssparky.com/2010/01/defense-contractors-must-now-air-dirty-deeds-in-public/

Mysteriously Missing Property - Lots of It!

Imagine how you would feel if your family patriarch died and instead of having to deal with the settling of an estate and arranging for distribution to the heirs, you found that everything your family owned (bank accounts, property and titles etc.) had vanished.  The representative of the Frank Kryder family is trying to solve a mystery, a vexing one.  Upon the death of Frank Kryder, the family found that their entire estate had just vanished, with little proof that it ever existed.   Other people have been experiencing this kind of crime as well, as you can see from the letter from Robert Harrington, and  as many others can attest after losing their homes to unscrupulous mortage companies and banks.   Some people are asking if the infamous Hidden Treuhand might be the vehicle used to accomplish these thefts so effectively, due to the complete secrecy and invisibility of the instrument.  If so, this is almost a license to steal with impunity right now. 

Below is a series of emails I was sent recently to pass along.  You will find this interesting and horrifying.  Imagine it was your family this was happening to.  Some of you I know, do not have to imagine.  I have left the email addresses and contacts for Ms. Yolanda Gibson-Michaels and the Frank Kryder estate in case you wish to contact them with helpful information or questions, and the contact information for Robert Harrington regarding his WAMU nightmare.  I hope some of you out there may have pieces of the puzzle.   -GFS

Yolanda C. Gibson-Michaels

--- On Fri, 1/1/10, Yolanda Gibson-Michaels <ygmichaels@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Yolanda Gibson-Michaels <ygmichaels@yahoo.com>
Subject: Urgent Read: FDIC WAMU Fraud
Date: Friday, January 1, 2010, 5:45 PM

 Yolanda C. Gibson-Michaels

--- On Thu, 12/31/09, Robert Harrington wrote:

From: Robert Harrington <crharrington@cox.net>
Subject: Re: Re: My FDIC case
To: "Yolanda Gibson-Michaels" <ygmichaels@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 8:51 PM

Is JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC aiding and abetting fraud?

The FDIC is backing JPMorgan Chase in (allegedly) fraudulently taking my home. WAMU defrauded myself and potentially 100,000's of other US taxpayer/homeowners.

The FDIC is also defending JPMorgan Chase to cover up this "theft."
http://www.reuters.com/article.....1V20090513
also see:
http://www.businessweek.com/th.....movie.html

If you could pull up the "Texas case," (EXHIBIT A) the allegations that JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC were in collusion to steal WAMU are very damning.
http://www.kccllc.net/document.....000002.pdf

I have discovery in my own foreclosure case(s) against WAMU that the underwriters and loan officer from WAMU changed my FULL DOC loan income and debt items to reduce my Debt to Income ratio from over 200% down to 17% to make a sizable commission. My full Doc application includes two years personal tax returns, corporate returns complete with all appropriate schedules, balance sheets, operating statements, checking account statements, net worth sheet, and leases. WAMU further changed my property tax from $10,000 to $4500 from the previously agreed upon settlement statement causing an unforeseen $1400/month spike in my payment 14 payments later. This was clearly fraud in the Inducement as I never would have accepted such a deal. They also failed to properly disclose the neg am feature up front. They knew I would not be at the closing (my wife was given Power of Attorney) so all the changes would have not been recognizable in my absence. I HAVE HARD COPY EVIDENCE THROUGH COURT ORDERED/COMPELLED DISCOVERY!

If the Texas Case (WAMU bondholder's) allegations against JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC are true, then a case should be made that both entities aided and abetted with WAMU to steal potentially 100,000's of homes years later from defrauded homeowners. This colossal theft will be exacted for free for JPMorgan Chase with taxpayer money (including TARP funds) with the FDIC. This fraud would amount to billions of dollars unfairly extracted from homeowners, not including bondholders. This is unconscionable.
http://securities.stanford.edu....._08387.pdf

I and 100,000's of (WAMU originated) homeowners need our cases to be fully examined/prosecuted and put forth before the court of public opinion to ask a simple question. WAS THE ENTIRE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND WAMU'S (Countrywide, IndyMac, etc...) FRAUDULENT LENDING BUSINESS PRACTICES A PLANNED EVENT TO ENRICH THE BANKING ELITE AND THEIR POLITICAL FRIENDS AT THE EXPENSE OF THE HOMEOWNERS AND TAXPAYERS?

I would also like to find the 100,000's of WAMU originated homeowners now being bullied by JPMorgan Chase and the FDIC who are now foreclosing (YET CLAIM NO LIABILITY FROM HOMEOWNERS FOR WAMU'S FRAUD) to assist them in their legal defense against WAMU, JPMorgan Chase and certain responsible parties from the FDIC, OTS, and the US Government (that I believe and allege by diligent research of 1000's of document pages) aided and abetted theft and fraud on an unprecedented scale, and are co-conspirators, both civilly and criminally.

Also, feel free to forward this email to anyone who could amplify its production and scope. Journalists, bloggers, citizen groups, consumer rights attorneys, friends, family and co-workers should all be included to share this shocking content.

It's your country, too.

Feel free to contact me at (850) 259-6422 or crharrington@cox.net

Thank you,

Robert Harrington
Niceville, FL

----- Original Message -----
From: Yolanda Gibson-Michaels
To: crharrington@cox.net
Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2009 8:01 PM
Subject: Fw: Re: My FDIC/Wells Fargo Bank Fraud

Yolanda C. Gibson-Michaels

From: Yolanda Gibson-Michaels <ygmichaels@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: My FDIC/Wells Fargo Bank Fraud
To: "Estate of Frank Kryder" <estate@frankkryder.com>

Date: Sunday, May 31, 2009, 10:32 AM

Dear Estate of Frank Kryder,
 
You are absolutely correct!!  The FDIC Illegal Division are the culprits to and including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  I am one of several FDIC Whistleblowers.  During my research, I discovered that the Kryder's money was linked to my former supervisor Stephen Michael Hanas aka Steve Hanas financial filings (FDIC Legal Division), and linked to former FDIC Chairman Donald E. Powell financial filings; and an indivivdual named Maureen Sweeney.   FDIC corrupt officials are playing a global pyrimad via the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) with the use of Unregistered Financial Filings.
 
I reported FDICs FRAUD since 2004 to present date.  I have also carbon copy others that may be able to assist you in your research or may have evidence to share with you regarding the stolen Kryder estate.  If you have access to US Prosecutors, Media, and or a Lawyer that would be helpful to expose and indict FDIC corrupt officials.
 
I will also mail to your attention a 539 page disclosure report of reported fraud at the FDIC. Please send me a P.O. Box or Mailing address to my attention. Upon receipt. I will immediately mail evidence to your attention.  I will also assist you with further research regarding the stolen Kryder fortune....Smile.

Yolanda C. Gibson-Michaels

From: Estate of Frank Kryder <estate@frankkryder.com>
Subject: My FDIC/Wells Fargo Bank Fraud
To: ygmichaels@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, May 29, 2009, 3:11 PM

Dear Ms. Gibson-Michaels:
 
In 1969, SOMEONE in FDIC issued a Certficate for one  "Allen County National Bank" which never existed. It was used in a merger four days later, to conceal Home Owners Loan Corporation bonds and federal national first mortgage securities owned by my great-grandfather, great grandmother and grandfather's estates, the remainder of their Depression and War time real estate and insurance company. Accordingly, this lump of securities, stolen by the estate lawyers and others,  was called a national bank and merged into Lincoln Natl Bank & Trust Co. of Fort Wayne, now Wells Fargo.
 
I am PR for the estate and have been working 15 years on the project of nailing the organization which robbed the family. I have even gone so far as to trace the disappearance of the Confederate Treasury to Wells Fargo and  its laundering through Lincoln Natl Bank & Trust Co, the former "German American National Bank." That bank has been laundering money since the beginning of US banking, for the crowned heads of Europe and their American friends.
 
Not only was I positive there was never a physical "Allen County National Bank" in Fort Wayne, having thoroughly learned the history of all its institutions for the last 200 years, I established with FOIA requests that
 
 
1. The Comptroller has no paperwork on this entity including Charter, Articles, consent to merger.
 
2. The Public FDIC database has no record of it in the history of LNBT; has nothing on the certificate #20070
 
3. "Legal Division" has this bogus record.
 
 
I know you will believe me when I say, no it wasn't an interim, it wasn't a takeover, there wasn't a receivership-
 
The entity was pulled out of thin air so the Lincoln books would look right once the securities were sequestered to be used by others.
 
The story is hugely complicated with bank holding company history and so on-
 
I just hope that this part will be of interest to you because it is so GROSSLY fraudulent, and damning.
 
Possibly, some of this may tie in with your work.
 
The only reason I found the anomalous bank entity is because I so tediously traced the assets. As far as I know, everything in "the bank" except the aforementioned government securities was property of estates with no heirs or estates of incompetents. It was never expected anyone would come looking.  I had to go through courthouse basements to discover the bonds were missing.
 
There is no telling how many of these "Certificates" for bogus banks have been let out for money laundering and moving slush funds.
 
The insider just has to assign a certificate so that a merger  will not be scrutinized since both entities are insured. Then, they only have to not enter the certificate in the public database. Apparently, Legal Division is the culprit, which stands to reason.
 
I would appreciate your thoughts, if any.
 
 
 
FDIC Legal Division:
 

FDIC Bank Find/Institution Directory FOIA Request:
 
 
information I received from a researcher since the certificate number 20070 is not in the public database:
 
Dear Leigh Fulghum:
>
> This is in response to your inquiry to the FDIC on 4/22/2009 . Your
> request began "I have received info..."
>
> Thank you for taking the time to contact the FDIC regarding Allen County
> National Bank.  Any bank that was ever insured by the FDIC-would be listed
> in our database.  There was no listing for Allen County National Bank in
> the FDIC or the Fed databases.
>
> If you need to contact us again regarding this matter, your reference to
> issue ISS00679577 will expedite our response.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Modestine Johnson
>
> Division of Insurance and Research
> Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
 
 
OCC response:
 
"This is in response to Internet correspondence to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Customer Assistance Group (CAG).  CAG answers questions and assists consumers in resolving complaints against national banks.  A national bank is a bank that has the word National or the letters N.A. in its official name.
 
The focus of the OCC's review of consumer complaints against national banks is to determine whether the banks' actions are consistent with banking statutes, regulations or any policies that are applicable to nationally chartered banking institutions.
 
This agency was unable to locate an inactive or active listing for an Allen County National Bank .... We will be unable to assist you with this matter unless we are provided with a valid national bank.  " blah blah
 
 
 
 
Yours Sincerely,
Leigh M. Fulghum
Personal Representative for the Estate of Frank H. Kryder
Allen County, Fort Wayne, Indiana

 -----------------------------------------------------

 I could not get the attachments included in this email to function here.  Please contact Ms. Gibson-Michaels to obtain them.  -GFS

 

  
 

Judge Decides in Favor of Bunny Greenhouse Regarding Security Clearance

Taking someone’s security clearance away has almost been a stereotypical action by many agencies in DoD as a part of the “deal with the whistleblower” strategy.  Trumped up justifications are too easy for them to throw together, and although they are trumped up, are very difficult to fight.  It is difficult to get one’s clearance back, particularly in a timely manner.  And most DoD employees must have their clearance in good standing in order to perform their jobs, and in many cases even report to their offices to work each day.  This is a hopeful ruling.  -GFS

 

 

 

Judge Says Army Must Answer For Denying Security Clearance to Whistleblower Bunny Greenhouse

 

Washington, D.C. July 28, 2009.   U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan ordered yesterday that the Army Corps of Engineers must answer for its decision to withhold top-secret security clearance from whistleblower Bunnatine (Bunny) H. Greenhouse. "This decision sets a new precedent for the protection of national security whistleblowers," said Michael D. Kohn, President of the National Whistleblowers Center and Greenhouse's attorney. Bunny Greenhouse was the Corps' top procurement executive when she objected to the terms and legality of a no-bid contract the Bush Administration was about to award to Halliburton subsidiary KBR a contract just before the Iraq War commenced, known as Restore Iraqi Oil ("RIO").  Greenhouse's concerns were ignored and the no-bid, cost plus contract, worth up to $7 Billion, was secretly awarded to KBR to run Iraqi oil fields after the invasion. When Greenhouse was scheduled to testify before a Congressional Committee during the Bush Administration, the Army Corps' then acting General Counsel personally advised Greenhouse it would not be in her best interest to do so and she was swiftly removed as the Army Corps' Procurement Executive when she ignored that warning.   Greenhouse alleged that the Corps further retaliated against her by refusing to renew her top-secret security clearance (TSSC) on grounds that her new job did not require any clearance. Greenhouse filed a lawsuit to get her old job back.  In a ruling yesterday, Judge Sullivan overruled the government's motion to dismiss Greenhouse's claim for her TSSC.   Judge Sullivan acknowledged that existing case law establishes that "an adverse employment action based on denial or revocation of a security clearance is not actionable" if it would "require the court to assess the merits of the decision to deny the clearance - precisely the assessment prohibited by the Supreme Court's holding" in Department of the Navy v. Egan, 484 U.S. 518 (1988)."  Judge Sullivan establish new precedent, holding that "the decision to strip Greenhouse of her security clearance was based on the Corp's claim that Greenhouse didn't need it any more based on the jobs they intended her to perform" thereby making it "entirely unrelated to any security-sensitive considerations."     Kohn called Judge Sullivan's decision is "well reasoned."   "Otherwise, an agency could marginalize a whistleblower by failing to renew a security clearance for reasons that had nothing to do with security and everything to do with retaliation."  Kohn said.  "A blanket refusal to permit a court to review the reasons for the denial of security clearances normally leaves national security whistleblowers completely vulnerable to retaliation.  This decision highlights how a decision to withhold security clearance can have nothing to do with national security and everything to do with unlawful retaliation," Kohn added. A copy of the decision is attached here.

 

 

Link to original:  http://www.whistleblowers.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=904&Itemid=71

 

Gerald Eastman Urges WBRs Write to the Obama Administration

Boeing Whistleblower, Gerald Eastman, urges employees of industry to write to the incoming Obama/Biden President/Vice President Elect’s offices to request true whistleblower protections are put into place immediately for all whistleblowers, industry employees or government employees. 

 

 

After all of the pain and trouble Mr. Eastman has had to go through after trying to make his former employer, Boeing, fly straight, and having them target him for destruction, it is good to see he’s really found his voice here.  You will want to read it.  Here is the link to that specific entry:

 

http://eastmans.web.aplus.net/pblog/index.php?entry=entry090104-214935

 

 

Or you can go to his website: http://www.thelastinspector.com

Air Traffic Controller Goes After FAA

Texas Air Traffic Controller Files Claim Against FAA

November 19, 2008

An air traffic controller who told authorities that the Federal Aviation Administration covered up safety issues at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has filed a discrimination claim charging the agency with refusing to promote her because of her complaints.

Anne Whiteman is seeking at least $745,000 in damages and $250,000 for medical expenses in the case filed with a federal board that handles retaliation claims.

Whiteman said air traffic controllers at the Texas airport sometimes let planes get too close to each other, then covered up the safety issues by blaming the incidents on pilot error or saying they never happened.

Whiteman, who has worked at the airport for more than 25 years, first reported the safety issue to superiors in 1998. She said in the claim that she was removed from her job in the radar room in a move widely considered a demotion, and continually denied advancement. She also said she was subject to harassment including an attempt to run her car off the road.

Lynn Tierney, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said the agency couldn't comment because it didn't know about the filing until getting a call from The Associated Press.

"However, there is no place in the FAA for mistreatment of individuals who bring forward critical information related to our operations," Tierney said. "We do not retaliate and won't condone it in any form."

Whiteman's lawyer, Ariel Solomon, said the FAA offered to settle the case for less than $50,000, but Whiteman rejected the offer.

The claim was filed with the Dallas office of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

The Transportation Department's inspector general and the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that protects whistle-blowers, backed up Whiteman's complaints in reports released last week. They said the problem of falsely classifying incidents when aircraft got too close to each other was eight times greater at DFW than at other airports nationwide.

The inspector general recommended that seven FAA managers at DFW Airport be removed, and last week an FAA spokeswoman said that had been done.

The acting special counsel also wrote to President George W. Bush and congressional leaders last week, saying that the FAA needs more scrutiny to make sure corrective measures have been taken.

In an interview, Whiteman disputed the FAA's contention that it has fixed the problems at DFW Airport, including management changes. She said some of the former managers still come to work while on leave.

Whiteman charged that the harassment against her put the public in danger. She said on at least one occasion, a hostile co-worker ordered a plane into the path of an aircraft she was guiding "to try to scare me."

"It's extremely dangerous, and to have FAA characterize these as minor instances" is wrong, she said.

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POGO's Report on Fed. Air Marshall Whistleblowers

Dear _________________,

 

As many of us prepare to fly around the country for the holidays, POGO has released a new report (http://www.pogo.org/pogo-files/reports/homeland-security/breaking-the-sound-barrier/hs-as-20081125.html)  on the miserable experience of federal air marshal whistleblowers dealing with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC).  We chose to focus on the OSC's mishandling of air marshal cases for two reasons: 1) President Bush has highlighted the critical role air marshals play in keeping our airplanes and airports secure, and 2) former Special Counsel Scott Bloch touted his work with air marshals as evidence of a successful tenure.

In case after case, however, we found that the OSC failed to protect air marshals who came forward with serious security concerns and allegations of whistleblower retaliation.  In addition to setting the record straight on Bloch's tenure at the OSC, our report looks forward to the future of the agency, which is in need of a major overhaul in the next administration.

Be sure to check out our press alert and blog post to learn more.

We also sent a letter to Robert Bray, Director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, urging him to foster an organizational culture in which employees are not only encouraged to express safety concerns and ideas for reform, but are also protected for doing so.

 

Warm regards,

 

 

 

Danielle Brian

Executive Director

Project On Government Oversight

 

 

 

Click here to view our most recent press alerts:  http://www.pogo.org/press-room/press-alert-archive.html