ABC News: 'Pink Slime' Outrage: Tips for Checking Your Beef
Summary: GAP client and whistleblower Kit Foshee was interviewed on ABC World News With Diane Sawyer yesterday to discuss concerns regarding ammoniated beef trimmings – popularly known as 'pink slime' – that can be found in a majority of the ground beef sold at supermarkets.
Concerns about the questionable product spread quickly this week after it was announced that the USDA planned to continue purchasing the beef for school lunches, despite the move by major fast food chains in December to pull the beef from their menus. This ABC piece is the second in a two-part story about the ‘pink slime.’ The first part featured a former USDA scientist-turned-whistleblower who alleges that the product is in 70 percent of ground beef in supermarkets today.
Foshee, who worked at Beef Products, Inc (the company that produces the ammoniated beef) for 10 years, said he was fired for refusing to participate in his company's alleged false claims made to customers about the product's safety.
Key Quote: “It kind of looks like play dough,” said Kit Foshee, who was a corporate quality assurance manager at Beef Products Inc., the company that makes pink slime. “It’s pink and frozen, it’s not what the typical person would consider meat.”
Reuters: Gregory Mackler, Whistleblower, Says Bank of America Defrauded HAMP
Summary: In a whistleblower complaint unsealed Wednesday, Bank of America is accused of benefitting from financial incentives for participating in a federal mortgage-loan program while simultaneously preventing homeowners from using the program.
GAP client Eileen Foster also detailed home loan fraud in Bank of America (formerly at Countrywide), alleging that a number of cities were forging borrower signatures and fabricating income and asset documentation, among other abuses.
Yesterday (International Women’s Day), several CODE PINK members interrupted a presentation by the chief executive of Bank of America. CODE PINK is reporting that its members were assaulted and arrested by police after the incident.
The New York Times: Telling the Truth Like Crazy
Summary: More coverage of the New York Police Department whistleblower who was vindicated by a recently obtained report concerning crime statistics. Leading up to this, however, he was harshly retaliated against, including being subjected to psychiatric evalutions.
This is common retaliatory tactic and is often used on public employees, like GAP client and former DC firefighter Vanessa Coleman.
60 Minutes: The Catholic Church’s “Whistleblower”
Summary: Dublin Archbishop Diarmuld Martin blew the whistle on the mishandling of sexual abuse by priests by the Irish Church. Martin says he only acted “according to my conscience.”
Utah Ag-Gag Following in Iowa's Footsteps
Summary: Both legislative houses in Utah have passed the state's 'Ag Gag' bill, now only awaiting the governor's signature. Similar to Iowa's bill that became law last week, the Utah legislation criminalizes individuals who apply for a job at an agricultural facility under false pretenses. GAP's Food Integrity Campaign explains why the move will further inhibit potential industry whistleblowers from exposing abuse.
Summary: A whistleblower event for Sunshine Week 2012 is taking place on Friday, March 16. The panel, called Whistleblowers & the Press: Roles and Risks in Divulging Information Needed for Accountable Government, features former GAP client and SEC whistleblower Gary Aguirre, as well as former GAP Executive Director and current OSC Deputy Counsel Mark Cohen.
Salt Lake Tribune: Morman Church Blocks Whistleblower’s Access to Baptism Data
Summary: A “technological crackdown” by the Mormon Church has blocked a whistleblower from its database of baptisms for the dead. The move has cut off access for a whistleblower who has exposed a number of these baptisms from searching the database.
Monsters & Critics: Whistleblower from China’s Scandal-Hit City Disappears
Summary: A Chinese whistleblower who accused various high-level officials in Chongqing of corruption has disappeared from his Beijing apartment.
Hannah Johnson is Communications Associate for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.
