Times-Picayune (LA): Fired BP Worker Files Whistleblower Suit
Summary: A former BP employee has filed a whistleblower suit against the major oil company, claiming that he was fired after reporting to federal overseers that his superiors were falsifying data to make Mississippi beaches appear cleaner. According to the whistleblower, BP officials refused to clean up oiled debris on various beaches and then reported the beaches clean, all in an effort to finish its cleanup responsibilities and leave the rest to the coast guard.
Washington Times: Ex-CIA Official Accused of Leaks
Summary: More coverage of the former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, who is now the sixth whistleblower to be charged under the Espionage Act during the Obama administration. Kiriakou is accused of ‘leaking’ classified information to members of the media.
Key Quote: “[Those charged under the Espionage Act] are all whistle-blowers, who because they work in the national security and intelligence field, are not protected” by the whistle-blowing law, said Jesselyn Radack of the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit watchdog group.
GAP National Security & Human Rights Director Jesselyn Radack blogged today about the revelation that Kiriakou's wife, another intelligence agency employee, was pressured to resign.
Related Article: Huffington Post
Al Jazeera: WikiLeaks, Manning and the Pentagon: Blood on Whose Hands?
Summary: This article details the civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan caused by the US military that the information provided by Bradley Manning to WikiLeaks revealed. This includes the video showing the US apache helicopter open firing on a crowded Baghdad street, along with numerous field reports detailing “jumpy” soldiers shooting civilians at roadside checkpoints and in botched night raids.
To the author, Manning will eventually be honored as a great military whistleblower alongside others like Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg.
Miami Herald: The Dangers of Being a Honduran Whistleblower
Summary: The former Honduras Deputy Drug Czar was shot to death last week, just two weeks after going on record with a foreign correspondent about corrupt government officials who were complicit in drug-related killings. Honduras is an important transit point for drug producers, and sources who blow the whistle on the rampant corruption within the national police force often end up harassed or killed.
USDA Organic Program Accused of Corruption
Summary: An industry watchdog organization has requested an investigation into corruption in the USDA's National Organic Program after the advisory board allowed a biotechnology company to keep banned synthetic chemicals in infant formula and other foods marketed as organic.
Bainbridge Island Review (WA): Hendrickson Files Whistleblower Report with State Auditor
Summary: The former chief examiner of a Washington state city’s Civil Service Commission has filed an official complaint with the state auditor claiming that whistleblower protection laws were violated. She accuses city officials of using their positions of power to influence and bully staff.
Hannah Johnson is Communications Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
