The Whistleblogger

For me, the most telling moment of former FBI Director Jim Comey’s June 8th testimony occurred early in the hearing, when Mr. Comey choked up as he recalled the White House’s publicly stating that the President had fired him because the “FBI was in disarray.”

Understandably, James Comey’s testimony yesterday has sparked queries about his rights under whistleblower laws. He blew the whistle on matters fundamental to democracy that could spark a constitutional showdown. Sadly, however, due to loopholes that Congress should close, he had no rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act or any other whistleblower law.  

On Friday, May 26, President Donald Trump nominated Henry Kerner to the Office of Special Counsel, the independent agency established in 1979 tasked with investigating claims made by whistleblowers regarding fraud, waste, abuse of authority, or mismanagement within government.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was established by the 194 countries that are party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2010. Given the structure of the Fund and the context in which it operates, the Member States determined that oversight offices and policies were necessary to prevent corruption and fraud in the use of GCF resources. One of these policies will be designed to protect whistleblowers and witnesses who report misconduct or misuse of funds.

“Follow the Rules Act” Shields Those Who Refuse to Violate Agency Regulations

The Government Accountability Project today praised Congressional action from last week that closed a technical, but significant, loophole in whistleblower law. On May 26, the Senate by unanimous consent followed House approval and passed the Follow the Rules Act. Nearly enacted last Congress, the legislation protects those who refuse orders to violate agency rules and regulations. 

On January 25, 2017 the Staff Association of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) headquartered in Geneva, demonstrated to protest the recent actions of Francis Gurry, the agency’s Director General. Unhappy with the duly-elected Staff Association Council, Gurry organized his own elections and simply replaced the legitimate Staff Council with his preferred slate of officers.

Last week, President Trump signed an executive order titled "Improving Accountability and Whistleblower Protection," which will establish a new office within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) called the Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. The order intends to weed out VA employees promoting misconduct and to protect whistleblowers by allowing them to disclose wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.

This letter to the Secretary General and General Assembly of the United Nations from the Presidents of the UN Staff Associations speaks for itself.

In brief, the Staff Associations protest the conduct of Francis Gurry, the Director General of the UN’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), who, among other things, fired the President of the WIPO Staff Association (Moncef Kateb) after he objected to Gurry’s improper actions.

Exactly seven years ago last night, late into the evening, I remember first hearing of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy. My immediate suspicion was that the disaster was far worse than the companies were reporting, there were probably whistleblowers and they were ignored. All assumptions based on bitter oil industry practices and incompetent federal government oversight proved true.