On Tuesday, April 9, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) will bring the American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability to James Madison University (JMU). Rick Piltz (White House climate change scandal) and Thomas Tamm (warrantless wiretapping) will be the prominent whistleblowers featured at this event.

GAP's Tour is a dynamic campaign aimed at educating the public – particularly university students – about the phenomenon and practice of whistleblowing. This event will feature a moderated discussion that is free and open to all. A full description of the Tour can be found at www.WhistleblowerTour.org.

This Tour stop, sponsored by GAP and JMU, will last from 7:00 p.m. ­– 9:00 p.m. in the Health and Human Services Building, Room 1302.

Speakers

• Rick Piltz is a former senior associate in the coordination office of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. In 2005, he blew the whistle on the White House's improper editing and censorship of science program reports on global warming intended for the public and Congress. GAP, which represented Piltz, released reports to The New York Times documenting the improper editing. Philip Cooney, former White House Counsel on Environmental Quality Chief of Staff and a lawyer and former climate team leader with the American Petroleum Institute, hand-wrote the changes to the report. Those edits downplayed the reality of human-driven global warming and its harmful impacts. The changes also introduced an element of scientific uncertainty that had not been part of the original reports. This controversy sparked a media frenzy resulting in Cooney's resignation. For his own courageous efforts, in 2006 Piltz received the Ridenhour Truth-Telling Prize.
• Thomas Tamm was a well-regarded Justice Department attorney in the Capital Cases Unit who, in 2003, transferred to the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review (OIPR) – perhaps the most sensitive unit within the Justice Department. While working there, Tamm became aware of a program that bypassed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court. After Tamm's inquiries about the program repeatedly ran into walls of silence, he contacted The New York Times, which in 2005 ran an explosive Pulitzer Prize-winning cover story about the George W. Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. The program was in fact part of wide-ranging covert surveillance activities authorized by President Bush in the aftermath of 9/11. Although the law creating the FISA court made it a federal crime for any official to engage in such surveillance absent adherence to strict rules, including court approval, it was Tamm who became a target of law enforcement officials. In August 2007, 18 FBI agents raided Tamm's home, executing a search warrant in furtherance of locating the source of the Times story. Tamm was also the subject of a six-year federal criminal investigation. As the result of his courage and the ensuing ordeal, Tamm received the 2009 Ridenour Truth-Telling Award.

GAP President Louis Clark, who has spent more than 35 years at GAP protecting whistleblowers, will moderate the panel. Stated Clark, "We're excited to bring the American Whistleblower Tour to JMU, where students can hear directly from brave government whistleblowers about the challenges of speaking truth to power."

Last Friday, March 22, the University of District of Columbia law school hosted two nationally-renowned whistleblowers – Rick Piltz and Thomas Drake – as part of the American Whistleblower Tour. Piltz and Drake, both recipients of the prestigious Ridenhour Prize, told their stories of talking truth to power at the highest and, indeed most powerful, levels of the federal government.

Piltz, a former senior associate with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, blew the whistle in 2005 on the George W. Bush White House’s improper editing and censorship of global warming reports intended for the public and Congress. After decades working on climate science communication in Washington, Piltz was shocked to receive a fax containing hand edits of a report from his office. The “editor” – White House Counsel on Environmental Quality Chief of Staff Philip Cooney – was intent on taking out references to fossil fuel and human activity contributing to climate change. Cooney’s previous employer was the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry's chief lobbying arm.

“This was the collision of science and politics,” Piltz observed. Speaking during the week of the Iraq War’s tenth anniversary, he explained how the Bush Administration was attempting to manipulate climate science to further its policy. Just as administration officials justified the invasion of Iraq, climate science officials were moving to “misrepresent intelligence to conform it to what they already decided to do anyway.” In this case, ignore the impact of human activity on climate change and fail to prepare for the repercussions.

Piltz resigned when it became clear that no one with the ability and authority to do so would stand against such political censorship. With the help of GAP, he then took copies of the hand-edited reports to The New York Times. Their publication of an explosive, front-page article resulted in Cooney’s resignation a few days later. Within days he was employed again at ExxonMobil.

Vindication for Piltz also came when he testified before Congress about political interference in climate science communications. He now directs a GAP-sponsored program, Climate Science Watch.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Thomas Drake was just starting out at the National Security Agency (NSA). As a senior NSA official he had taken an oath to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. But after that fateful September day – one Drake’s supervisor described as “a gift to the NSA” – billions more dollars began pouring in to the agency as part of the “War on Terror.”

“There are nightmares out there.”

That’s what a retired USDA poultry inspector with 44 years of experience told an audience at American University’s Washington College of Law about the current chicken inspection pilot program that may soon expand nationwide. The program, known by its acronym HIMP, allows inspectors only 1/3 of a second to inspect each bird, and limits access to seeing and touching the carcass.

On March 20, Phyllis McKelvey made her first appearance as part of the American Whistleblower Tour at the AU event, with GAP President and Washington College of Law alumnus Louis Clark moderating. McKelvey, who came out of retirement in 2010 to speak out against the dangers of the HIMP program, made her concerns clear as a mother, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of one. The speeding up of chicken processing lines over the years has resulted in food safety standards being sacrificed in return for more birds and higher profits. Inspectors can no longer handle the birds and inspect the cavities where signs of disease, infections, and feces are usually identified.

The speed pressure has also impacted worker safety, resulting in injuries. Exacerbating this is the fact that the industry is heavily populated by undocumented immigrant workers who are afraid to speak out about problems or report injuries. Even citizen employees feel intimidated about speaking out – many have told McKelvey that she’s “doing what other people want to do but couldn’t because they’re afraid for their jobs.”

When HIMP was implemented and Phyllis and other inspectors began issuing reports flagging concerns, their access to the chickens being processed was physically limited to reduce the number of “negative” reports.

“Washington, DC wants pretty reports,” McKelvey said, referring to the USDA, the federal government agency whose brainchild HIMP is.

The Government Accountability Project (GAP) will bring its American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability to Indiana University this month, with programs on March 27 at IUPUI and March 28 at IU Bloomington.

The American Whistleblower Tour is aimed at educating the public – particularly university students – about the phenomenon and practice of whistleblowing. The IU events, which are free and open to the public, will feature Rick Piltz, who blew the whistle on White House censorship of global warming studies, and Ken Kendrick, who revealed food safety problems tied to a Salmonella outbreak.

"Whistleblowers have made incredible differences for citizens across the world, actions that often result in innocent people being protected from deadly products," said Dana Gold, tour director and GAP senior fellow. "Whistleblowers should be recognized, protected and honored, and that's what our tour is all about."

The program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 27 in Hine Hall Auditorium. The IU Bloomington program will be from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. on March 28 at Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union. Piltz and Kendrick will also present classroom talks to students at IU Bloomington.

On Friday, March 22, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) will bring the American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability to the University of the District of Columbia (UDC). The Tour stop will feature prominent whistleblowers Thomas Drake (NSA waste and mismanagement), Rick Piltz (White House climate change scandal), and Jesselyn Radack (unconstitutional treatment by DOJ of John Walker Lindh).

GAP's Tour is a dynamic campaign aimed at educating the public – particularly university students – about the phenomenon and practice of whistleblowing. This event will feature a moderated discussion that is free and open to all. A full description of the Tour can be found at www.WhistleblowerTour.org.

This Tour stop is sponsored by GAP along with UDC's David A. Clarke School of Law. The event will last from 4:00 p.m. ­– 6:00 p.m. in Room 518 (Moot Court Room).

On Wednesday, March 20, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) will bring the American Whistleblower Tour: Essential Voices for Accountability to American University (AU). The Tour stop will feature whistleblower Phyllis McKelvey, who collected more than 180,000 petition signatures raising serious safety concerns about the USDA's proposed poultry inspection model.

GAP's Tour is a dynamic campaign aimed at educating the public – particularly university students – about the phenomenon and practice of whistleblowing. This event, like all stops, features a moderated discussion with a prominent whistleblower. This presentation runs from 9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m., with a continental breakfast and introductory remarks preceding the discussion.

A Continuing Legal Education (CLE) initiative follows the Tour stop, from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. The CLE features a presentation by GAP staff on navigating the new food safety whistleblower provision contained in the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA).

The event is free and open to all, but registration is required. A full description/timeline of this stop can be found here, and a description of the Tour can be found at www.WhistleblowerTour.org. The program will take place at the AU Washington College of Law, Room 603. The Tour stop is sponsored by GAP’s Food Integrity Campaign, along with the American University Washington College of Law.

GAP President Louis Clark recently authored the following entry on the blog of The Kindle Project, a Santa Fe-based grant-making entity which is a fiscally sponsored project of the Common Counsel Foundation. The Kindle Project's mission is to cultivate possibilities and support people and projects addressing a broad range of issues and avenues of change.

GAP’s Jesselyn Radack interviews SEC whistleblower Gary Aguirre on the American Whistleblower Tour.In today’s world, it’s difficult for David to triumph over Goliath. Hollywood loves to rewrite history by mythologizing heroes who are remembered as being single-handedly responsible for changing it. Essentially, the “power of one” storyline is more memorable than the “it takes a village” approach.

The truth of the matter lies elsewhere, as both are required to make progress. It takes courageous visionaries and legions of supporters to disrupt the status quo, build a movement, and implement enduring change.

The whistleblower phenomenon itself is a microcosm of societal evolution, where a problematic issue is raised, and measures taken to solve it. Typically, a whistleblower takes a moral stand: refusing to go along with a crooked scheme, follow illegal orders, remain silent in the face of specific public health dangers, etc. The question becomes whether this courageous person will drown beneath the waves they created. The answer rests with all of us. When confronted with evil, what do good people do? Whistleblowers either sow the seeds of their own destruction or become catalysts for reform. How society and individuals respond to truth-tellers make us either accomplices to wrongdoing or citizen activists on the right side of history.

Thirty-five years ago, as a young lawyer with a seemingly irrelevant divinity degree and church ordination, I met my first whistleblowing client. A computer wizard and quality assurance specialist, he had exposed defects in the Pentagon’s Worldwide Command and Control Intercomputer Network. He had lost his job, career, and 65 pounds that he could ill-afford. The computer network eventually crashed and was abandoned as dysfunctional. But the whistleblower was professionally overtaken by the hornet’s nest he had kicked, and I lost my first case.