Government Accountability Project

Last updated
Government Accountability Project
TypeNon-profit organization
Headquarters Washington, D.C.
Website Whistleblower.org

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a nonprofit whistleblower protection and advocacy organization in the United States. It was founded in 1977.

Contents

Activities

In March 1983, it worked with whistleblower Rick Parks to inform the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about alleged problems with cleanup procedures after the Three Mile Island accident. Parks also alleged his apartment had been broken into and drugs were planted in his van. This was popularized in the Netflix documentary Meltdown: Three Mile Island. [1]

In 1992, GAP represented Aldric Saucier, who had lost his job and security clearance after he criticized the Strategic Defense Initiative. [2]

In December 2012, Eric Ben-Artzi came forward publicly with evidence of multi-billion dollar securities violations at his employer, Deutsche Bank. He internally reported violations stemming from the bank's failure to report the value of its credit derivatives portfolio accurately. The bank retaliated in multiple ways and ultimately dismissed him. GAP filed an official whistleblower complaint on Ben-Artzi's behalf. He was ultimately awarded $8 million from the SEC, which he declined to collect. [3] [4]

GAP provided legal support to Thomas A. Drake, a former senior executive with the National Security Agency (NSA) who blew the whistle on multi-billion dollar programmatic fraud, waste, and abuse; the critical loss and suppression of 9/11 intelligence; and the Stellar Wind project's dragnet electronic mass surveillance and data-mining (conducted on a vast scale by the agency with the approval of the White House after 9/11). Drake argued that Stellar Wind violated the Constitution and American citizens' civil liberties while weakening national security. In April 2010, the Department of Justice charged him with ten felonies (five under the Espionage Act) and he faced 35 years in prison. [5] He was the first whistleblower charged with espionage by the Obama administration. All charges were eventually dropped when Drake pleaded to a misdemeanor count of exceeding the authorized use of a government computer with no fine or prison time. [6]

In 2003, Federal Air Marshal (FAM) Robert MacLean revealed a cost-cutting plan to cancel FAM coverage from long distance flights on the eve of a confirmed al-Qaeda suicidal hijacking plan. The plan never went into effect after Congress protested, based solely on his whistleblowing disclosure. TSA fired him three years later with a single charge of "Unauthorized Disclosure of Sensitive Security Information" – an unclassified "hybrid secrecy" label the TSA retroactively applied to the information that he disclosed. [7]

Jim Schrier is a veteran food safety inspector for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) who was retaliated against after blowing the whistle on violations of humane handling regulations at an agency-regulated Tyson Foods slaughter plant in Iowa. Serving as an inspector for 29 years, Schrier reported clear humane handling violations involving market hogs to his supervisor, including inadequate stunning techniques and that conscious animals were being shackled and slaughtered. [8]

In early 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden began working with journalists to reveal widespread mass surveillance programs conducted by the National Security Agency. [9] Articles based on Snowden's documents have revealed the existence of numerous global surveillance programs run by the NSA with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and other governments. In 2013, the existence of the NSA metadata program was revealed, along with Boundless Informant, the PRISM electronic data mining program, the XKeyscore analytical tool, the Tempora interception project, the MUSCULAR access point and the massive FASCIA database, which contains trillions of device-location records. In 2014, Britain's Joint Threat Research Intelligence Group was revealed, along with the Dishfire database, Squeaky Dolphin's real-time monitoring of social media networks, and the bulk collection of private webcam images via the Optic Nerve program. In June 2013, Snowden became the eighth whistleblower charged under the Espionage Act by the Obama administration.

As an officer at the U.N. peacekeeping operation in Kosovo in 2007, James Wasserstrom blocked an alleged conspiracy to pay a $500 million kickback to senior U.N. and Kosovo officials in connection with the construction of a new coal mine and power plant. The UN Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) found he was subjected to serious and protracted retaliation which he faced without protection from the U.N. Ethics Office – the unit established to investigate and act against such reprisals. Wasserstrom faced relentless negative personal and professional consequences of the retaliation, while none of those who engaged in it suffered consequences themselves. He has since lobbied Congress successfully to strengthen State Department oversight of UN whistleblower protections. [10]

In early 2007, Government Accountability Project was responsible for exposing fraud and abuse at the highest levels of the World Bank. [11] In May 2007, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz left the international organization in the wake of wide-ranging scandals based on multiple releases of documents over the previous two months by Government Accountability Project. [12]

Government Accountability Project released evidence or exposed information showing that: Wolfowitz's companion, Shaha Riza, received salary raises far in excess of those allowable under Bank rules; Riza received a questionable consulting position with a U.S. defense contractor in 2003 at Wolfowitz' direction that has resulted in State and Defense Department inquiries; Juan José Daboub, Bank Managing Director and Wolfowitz-hire, attempted to remove references and funding for "family planning" in Bank projects; Wolfowitz' office was responsible for weakening a "climate change" strategy document; Bank Senior Management delayed reporting to Bank staff that a fellow staffer had been seriously wounded in a shooting in Iraq; World Bank lending to Africa during Fiscal Year of 2007 has plummeted; and Wolfowitz was trying to broaden the Bank's portfolio in Iraq over Board opposition.

In 2016, GAP represented World Bank whistleblower Fabrice Houdart when the Bank opened an investigation in his human rights advocacy after he obtained from Jim Yong Kim that he withdraw an unethical bonus awarded to CFO Bertrand Badre [13] [14] [15] .

The Democracy Protection Initiative

The Democracy Protection Initiative was launched by the Government Accountability Project in October 2020. The initiative aimed to encourage and provide support to whistleblowers who came forward with information relating to alleged interference in the 2020 United States elections and during a potential subsequent transition of power. [16] Partners in the initiative included the American Constitution Society, American Oversight, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Georgetown Law's Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Protect Democracy, Public Citizen, and We The Action. [17]

Legislation

Government Accountability Project advocated in favor of the All Circuit Review Extension Act (H.R. 4197; 113th Congress), a bill that would extend for three years the authority for federal employees who appeal a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to file their appeal at any federal court, instead of only the U.S. Court of Appeals. [18] The pilot program was established in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2012 (WPEA) to last only two years. Government Accountability Project calls the program "landmark" and says that it was "the WPEA's most significant structural reform." [19] Government Accountability Project argued that an extension of the pilot program was needed in order to ensure that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Congress had enough time to see the results of the program before deciding whether to make it permanent. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Espionage Act of 1917</span> United States federal law

The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18. Specifically, it is 18 U.S.C. ch. 37.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russ Tice</span> American intelligence analyst (born 1961)

Russell D. Tice is a former intelligence analyst for the United States Air Force, Office of Naval Intelligence, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and National Security Agency (NSA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ThinThread</span>

ThinThread was an intelligence gathering project by the United States National Security Agency (NSA) conducted throughout the 1990s. The program involved wiretapping and sophisticated analysis of the resulting data. The program was discontinued three weeks before the September 11, 2001 attacks due to the changes in priorities and the consolidation of U.S. intelligence authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Adams Award</span> Annual award for intelligence professionals

The Sam Adams Award is given annually since 2002 to an intelligence professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. The Award is granted by the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, a group of retired CIA officers. It is named after Samuel A. Adams, a CIA whistleblower during the Vietnam War, and takes the physical form of a "corner-brightener candlestick".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trailblazer Project</span>

Trailblazer was a United States National Security Agency (NSA) program intended to develop a capability to analyze data carried on communications networks like the Internet. It was intended to track entities using communication methods such as cell phones and e-mail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas A. Drake</span> Former NSA senior executive, military veteran, and whistleblower (born 1957)

Thomas Andrews Drake is a former senior executive of the National Security Agency (NSA), a decorated United States Air Force and United States Navy veteran, and a whistleblower. In 2010, the government alleged that Drake mishandled documents, one of the few such Espionage Act cases in U.S. history. Drake's defenders claim that he was instead being persecuted for challenging the Trailblazer Project. He is the 2011 recipient of the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling and co-recipient of the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence (SAAII) award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Devine (lawyer)</span>

Tom Devine is an American lawyer, investigator, lobbyist, teacher, and advocate for whistleblower rights. He is currently the legal director at the non-profit Government Accountability Project, in Washington, D.C., where he has worked since 1979. He has assisted more than 7,000 whistleblowers, testified in Congress over 50 times, and has been a leader on the front lines to draft, enact, help to enact, or defend 34 whistleblower laws in the United States and abroad, including nearly all federal laws since 1978 and international rights ranging from former Soviet Bloc nations such as Kosovo, Serbia and Ukraine to the United Nations, World Bank, European Union, and Organization of American States. He is also an adjunct professor at the District of Columbia School of Law, where he teaches classes on and supervises clinical programs in whistleblower protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Binney (intelligence official)</span> Former U.S. intelligence official and cryptoanalyst; whistleblower

William "Bill" Edward Binney is a former intelligence official with the United States National Security Agency (NSA) and whistleblower. He retired on October 31, 2001, after more than 30 years with the agency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Snowden</span> American whistleblower and former NSA contractor (born 1983)

Edward Joseph Snowden is an American and naturalized Russian citizen who was a computer intelligence consultant and whistleblower who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013 when he was an employee and subcontractor. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reactions to global surveillance disclosures</span>

The global surveillance disclosure released to media by Edward Snowden has caused tension in the bilateral relations of the United States with several of its allies and economic partners as well as in its relationship with the European Union. In August 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the creation of "a review group on intelligence and communications technologies" that would brief and later report to him. In December, the task force issued 46 recommendations that, if adopted, would subject the National Security Agency (NSA) to additional scrutiny by the courts, Congress, and the president, and would strip the NSA of the authority to infiltrate American computer systems using "backdoors" in hardware or software. Geoffrey R. Stone, a White House panel member, said there was no evidence that the bulk collection of phone data had stopped any terror attacks.

The Fourth Amendment Protection Acts, are a collection of state legislation aimed at withdrawing state support for bulk data (metadata) collection and ban the use of warrant-less data in state courts. They are proposed nullification laws that, if enacted as law, would prohibit the state governments from co-operating with the National Security Agency, whose mass surveillance efforts are seen as unconstitutional by the proposals' proponents. Specific examples include the Kansas Fourth Amendment Preservation and Protection Act and the Arizona Fourth Amendment Protection Act. The original proposals were made in 2013 and 2014 by legislators in the American states of Utah, Washington, Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and California. Some of the bills would require a warrant before information could be released, whereas others would forbid state universities from doing NSA research or hosting NSA recruiters, or prevent the provision of services such as water to NSA facilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stop Watching Us</span> Protest against mass surveillance

Stop Watching Us was a protest effort against global surveillance that culminated in rallies on October 26, 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barack Obama on mass surveillance</span> Overview of the statements of former U.S. president Barack Obama on mass surveillance

Former U.S. President Barack Obama favored some levels of mass surveillance. He has received some widespread criticism from detractors as a result. Due to his support of certain government surveillance, some critics have said his support violated acceptable privacy rights, while others dispute or attempt to provide justification for the expansion of surveillance initiatives under his administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global surveillance and journalism</span>

Global surveillance and journalism is a subject covering journalism or reporting of governmental espionage, which gained worldwide attention after the Global surveillance disclosures of 2013 that resulted from Edward Snowden's leaks. Since 2013, many leaks have emerged from different government departments in the US, which confirm that the National Security Agency (NSA) spied on US citizens and foreign enemies alike. Journalists were attacked for publishing the leaks and were regarded in the same light as the whistleblowers who gave them the information. Subsequently, the US government made arrests, raising concerns about the freedom of the press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global surveillance whistleblowers</span>

Global surveillance whistleblowers are whistleblowers who provided public knowledge of global surveillance.

Commentary on Edward Snowden's disclosure is part of the reactions to global surveillance disclosures made by Edward Snowden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Tye (whistleblower)</span> American lawyer and whistleblower

John Napier Tye is a former official of the U.S. State Department who came forward in 2014 as a whistleblower seeking to publicize certain electronic surveillance practices of the U.S. government under Executive Order 12333. He later co-founded a legal organization, Whistleblower Aid, intended to help whistleblowers in multiple sectors forward their concerns without incurring legal liability.

The German Parliamentary Committee investigation of the NSA spying scandal was started on March 20, 2014, by the German Parliament in order to investigate the extent and background of foreign secret services spying in Germany in the light of the Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present). The Committee is also in search of strategies on how to protect telecommunication with technical means.

John Crane is a former Assistant Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense known for his advocacy on behalf of government whistleblowers. He was fired in 2013 and now works for the Government Accountability Project, a non-governmental whistleblower support organization.

Targeted surveillance is a form of surveillance, such as wiretapping, that is directed towards specific persons of interest, and is distinguishable from mass surveillance. Both untargeted and targeted surveillance is routinely accused of treating innocent people as suspects in ways that are unfair, of violating human rights, international treaties and conventions as well as national laws, and of failing to pursue security effectively.

References

  1. Nuclear Whistleblowers Protected the Public from Disaster. Now We Must Protect their Right to Speak Up.
  2. Lardner, George Jr. (April 14, 1992). "ARMY ACCUSES SDI CRITIC OF FALSIFYING CREDENTIALS". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  3. "Deutsche Hid Up to $12Bn Losses, Say Staff". Financial Times. December 6, 2012.
  4. Schechter, Asher (August 25, 2016). "The $8 Million Question: Why an Israeli Whistleblower Turned Down His Reward". Haaretz. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  5. Mayer, Jane (May 23, 2011). "The Secret Sharer: Is Thomas Drake an Enemy of the State?". New Yorker.
  6. "The Espionage Act: Why Tom Drake was indicted". 60 Minutes. August 22, 2011.
  7. "Appeals Court Questions Firing of Air Marshal Who Blew Whistle". Wall Street Journal. April 26, 2013.
  8. McGraw, Mike (June 28, 2013). "Animal abuse persists at some slaughter plants". Kansas City Star.
  9. "Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations". The Guardian. June 9, 2013.
  10. "U.N. urged to protect whistleblowers – or pay the price". USA Today. February 7, 2014.
  11. "Where the Money Is." The Washington Post. March 28, 2007.
  12. "Wolfowitz Steps Down as World Bank President." Financial Times. May 17, 2007.
  13. "Is Jim Yong Kim Destroying the World Bank?". Foreign Policy. April 27, 2016. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  14. Sandrine Rastello (October 1, 2014). "Bonus for Cost-Cutting: World Bank CFO Badré Mystifies Staff". News Release. Centre for International Governance Innovation. Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  15. Moloney, Kim; Bowman, James S.; West, Jonathan P. (2018). "Challenges Confronting Whistleblowing and the International Civil Servant". Public Personnel Management. 39 (4). doi:10.1177/0734371X18767247 . Retrieved 2024-03-30.
  16. "Advocacy groups form coalition to urge whistleblowers to expose election interference". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  17. Schneekloth, Abby (2020-10-13). "Top Advocacy Organizations Partner to Represent Whistleblowers and Protect the Election". Government Accountability Project. Retrieved 2020-10-20.
  18. "CBO – H.R. 4197". Congressional Budget Office. April 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  19. 1 2 "Pending Legislation". Government Accountability Project. Retrieved 15 July 2014.