Dear GAP Supporters:

We'd like to invite you to a special event next Wednesday (Jan. 23), when CIA/Anti-torture whistleblower and GAP client John Kiriakou will be honored with the unveiling of his portrait! This portrait, the newest edition of prominent artist Robert Shetterly's "Americans Who Tell the Truth" project, will be unveiled just two days prior to Kiriakou's sentencing. Please join us!

Wednesday, January 23, 8:30 - 10:30 p.m.
Busboys & Poets
2021 14th Street, NW, Washington D.C.

Light refreshments will be served. As space is very limited, please RSVP to GAP Communications Director Dylan Blaylock at dylanb@whistleblower.org.

Kiriakou, Shetterly and GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack will speak during the program. Additionally, noted jazz pianist Mary Anne Driscoll will premiere a new composition at the event, based on Kiriakou's words and actions.

The "Americans Who Tell the Truth" portrait series features notable truth-tellers from American history. Many prominent whistleblowers have been featured in the series, including Daniel Ellsberg, Frank Serpico, Coleen Rowley, and GAP client Thomas Drake.

We hope to see you there!

Background on Kiriakou

Kiriakou is a CIA veteran who headed counterterrorism operations in Pakistan after 9/11, organized the team operation that captured suspected al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah, and refused to be trained in torture interrogation tactics. In December 2007, Kiriakou gave an on-camera interview to ABC News in which he disclosed that Zubaydah was "waterboarded" and that "waterboarding" was torture – making him the first CIA officer to publicly label the action as torture. His interview also helped expose the CIA's torture program as policy, rather than the actions of a few rogue agents.

For these and other actions, in January 2011, Kiriakou became the sixth whistleblower charged with violating the Espionage Act by the Obama administration. These six prosecutions are more than all previous presidential administrations combined. Late last year, Kiriakou pled guilty to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act in exchange for the government dropping all other charges against him. Kiriakou is now the sole CIA officer who faces jail time for any action involving the federal government's torture program, despite being a whistleblower on it.

Firedoglake: US Whistleblowers on Being Targeted by the Secret Security State (Video)

Jesselyn RadackIn this video, GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack, along with GAP clients and whistleblowers Thomas Drake and William Binney, gave a presentation about "Blowing the Whistle on Spying, Lying, and Illegalities in the Digital Era" at the Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, Germany. The panel was part of an annual four-day conference that offers lectures and workshops on various topics, including information technology and the effects of technological advances on society.

Key Quote: In addition to sharing her own whistleblowing experience, [Radack] speaks about the role of technology helping whistleblowers. Technology helped her get emails from the Justice Department, which at the time was prosecuting Enron for destroying evidence and obstructing justice.

Financial Times: Experts Back Deutsche Whistleblowers

Accounting experts told the Financial Times that Deutsche Bank appears to have improperly accounted for billions of dollars of credit derivative trades by failing to adequately value the risk associated with credit derivatives. Their comments support Deutsche Bank whistleblowers, including GAP client Eric Ben-Artzi – who detailed shareholder fraud at Deutsche Bank earlier this month.

Key Quote: Charles Mulford, accounting professor at Georgia Tech business school, said: “I believe that the gap risk should have been adjusted to market value – consistent with the views of the former [Deutsche Bank] employees,” adding: “One cannot mark-to-market the upside but not the downside.”

Associated Press: Court Reduces Israeli Whistleblower's Sentence

A former Israeli soldier who passed on hundreds of classified military documents to a newspaper reporter received a year cut off her jail sentence of four-and-a-half years. Israel's Supreme Court reduced the sentence to three-and-a-half years after stating it was disproportionate to the four months of community service handed down to the reporter who received the documents.

Sarah Damian is New Media Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.

12 Million Affected, Six Times More than Federal Employees

(Washington, DC) – Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) is praising the inclusion of "best practice" whistleblower protection rights for federal government contractors in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 (NDAA 2013).

This tremendous expansion of whistleblower rights will help to safeguard approximately $1.9 trillion worth of government contracts, grants and reimbursements annually, and protect some 12 million federal contractor whistleblowers when they expose corruption, wrongdoing, waste, fraud, abuse, or threats to the public. By comparison, there are only (approximately) two million federal employees, many of which (national security and intelligence workers) do not enjoy rights under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), signed into law by President Obama late last month.

Mahmoud Mohieldin, Image Courtesy of the World Economic ForumAccording to an internal document sent from World Bank President Jim Yong Kim on December 18, Mahmoud Mohieldin – Egypt’s former Minister of Investment during the deposed Hosni Mubarak regime – has apparently been demoted from his post as Managing Director. Mohieldin is now the Special Envoy on Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Financial Development. While it is not yet clear what the Special Envoy will do about the MDGs and the United Nations, two things are certain: 1) Mohieldin has exchanged a central post at the Bank for a peripheral one, and 2) this is a pattern.

Over the last year-and-a-half, we have been investigating Mohieldin for his role in at least three suspicious (and potentially criminal) privatization transactions in Egypt. During this investigation, we have repeatedly pressed the World Bank to release Mohieldin’s financial disclosure records, arguing through various appeals that this information is a matter of public interest. The World Bank refuses to release the records, but instead has been actively shuffling Mohieldin around. We can’t help but notice that each time he moves, Mohieldin has lost a good chunk of his authority.

For example, near the beginning of this year, we acquired two World Bank organizational charts: one issued in January 2011 and a second in November 2011. When compared, the charts show that General Services, which include procurement at the Bank, were transferred from Mohieldin to Vincenzo La Via during the year. Apparently, former Bank President Zoellick (responsible for Mohieldin’s appointment in September 2010) thought Mohieldin should no longer be responsible for that any longer.

The decision to remove procurement responsibilities from Mohieldin is hardly surprising, given the avalanche of corruption allegations that we have tracked that hit him and his cronies after the fall of the Mubarak regime. While his appointment as Managing Director under Zoellick and the protection from investigation that the Bank afforded him was troubling enough, his new role as Bank President Kim’s Special Envoy on Millennium Development Goals and Financial Development is also disturbing.

It is not yet clear that Kim is aware of the shadow over Mohieldin as a consequence of his past dealings in the Mubarak government. What is clear is that Mohieldin has no experience protecting anyone from poverty other than himself. How he qualifies as an advocate for the MDGs is a mystery, but it probably indicates the low priority now assigned both the MDGs and Mohieldin at the World Bank in 2013.

Michael Termini is International Officer for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.

Happy holidays from GAP! This is the last Daily Whistleblower News until 2013.

The New York Times: Assange Addresses Dozens in London
Julian Assange, Image Courtesy of bbwbryant
Julian Assange, marking six months being holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, spoke to supporters in a Christmas address last night. In the speech, which the above link contains a full video of, Assange stated that in the coming year WikiLeaks is preparing to release over one million new documents which will affect "every country in the world."

Related Article: Atlantic Wire, The Guardian

Food Consumer: Outlawed in the EU, Unleashes Deadly Bacteria... Did You Eat It Today?

This article details antibiotic use in food production and its link to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It highlights GAP's lawsuit against the FDA after the agency refused to release data on the amount of antibiotics sold for use in food animals in 2009.

Dylan Blaylock is Communications Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.

Undefined Terms Translate to Possible Indefinite Detention for Intelligence Whistleblowers

(Washington, DC) – This past Monday, Dec. 17, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) filed an amicus curiae brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in the case of Hedges v. Obama. That lawsuit challenges provisions contained within the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA 2012). The overbroad and vague provisions, as the brief states, "greatly expands [sic] the Executive's military detention authority," which allows the federal government to indefinitely detain American citizens, such as those who: a) "substantially supported" groups engaged in hostilities against the U.S., b) substantially supported "associated forces" engaged in such hostilities, or c) have "directly supported" such hostilities.

GAP's brief focuses on the undefined nature of the terms "substantially supported," "associated forces" and "directly supported," arguing that the lack of parameters around these phrases can be used by the federal government to indefinitely detain intelligence agency whistleblowers who seek to expose wrongdoing and corruption in the American intelligence system. Such language also creates a chilling effect for potential whistleblowers.

"What if the federal government had this power when whistleblowers helped to expose the warrantless wiretapping program, the CIA rendition program, or the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal?" asked GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack. "Federal officials have always lamented the release of any intelligence information to the public, even when it discloses horrific abuse of power and threats to the Constitution. Now, with these undefined terms, these provisions could be used to detain intelligence whistleblowers indefinitely, without any sort of trial or due process."

The amicus brief was filed on behalf of GAP by attorney Reem Salahi of the law firm Hadsell Stormer Richardson & Renick. A copy of the brief is available here.

Historically, intelligence whistleblowers have faced harsh retaliation for coming forward. They have been labeled "traitors" or "enemies of the state." The Obama administration has used the Espionage Act to prosecute national security whistleblowers more frequently than every past presidential administration combined.

Kentucky.com: Kentucky Officials Seek to Punish Miner Who Reported Safety Violations

A miner in Kentucky who exposed dangerous practices at an underground coal mine – leading to the conviction of the company and supervisors responsible – now faces a complaint against him for taking part in the dangerous activities he reported. The miner's attorney says the state regulators who filed the complaint "are trying to punish the whistleblower."

Related Article: WFPL

New Zealand Times: Hard Row to Hoe If You Blow the Whistle

This article illustrates the risks involved in blowing the whistle on government wrongdoing, recapping the experience of Bradley Manning, whose trial has been suspended while the judge decides whether his treatment before trial was a denial of due process rights. GAP clients Eric Ben-Artzi – who blew the whistle on shareholder fraud at Deutsche Bank – as well as Tom Drake and John Kiriakou were also mentioned.  

Key Quote: "It's always extremely dangerous to challenge abuses of power," says [GAP Legal Director Tom] Devine.

"Those who abuse power have the weapons to smash those who threaten them. Blowing the whistle will always be a life crossroads choice, and likely the most dangerous, high-risk decision of any person's life. That's not going to change just because we get legal rights."

Related Article: City Watch

The New York Times: Amgen Agrees to Pay $762 Million for Marketing Anemia Drug for Off-Label Use

Drug company Amgen pled guilty yesterday to marketing its anemia drug Aranesp for uses unapproved by the Food and Drug Administration, even after the agency explicitly ruled them out. Amgen has agreed to pay $762 million in criminal penalties and settlements of whistleblower lawsuits.

The Ledger: Research Center Whistleblower Settles with UF

A former University of Florida (UF) computer technician, who was allegedly fired for blowing the whistle on intellectual property theft by UF's research center director, has reluctantly accepted a settlement of his whistleblower complaint. The terms have not been disclosed.

Patch: Gaithersburg Council Unanimously Approves Whistleblower Ordinance

This week, the Gaithersburg, Maryland City Council unanimously passed a whistleblower ordinance, designed to reassure citizens and city employees that they will be protected from retaliation for in-good-faith reporting of improper or illegal activities by city officials.

Sarah Damian is New Media Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.