In Washington, there’s an old cliché: The definition of a gaffe is when a politician accidentally tells the truth. So this recent internal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) video gone viral, one of several internal “changecasts” from Acting ATF director B. Todd Jones, has got to qualify him for induction into the Gaffe Hall of Fame.
Continue Reading ATF’s Orwellian Warning to Whistleblowers
FDA
Senator Grassley Hammers the FDA on the Senate Floor
Once again Senator Grassley has proven himself to be a champion of whistleblowers and government oversight. The NWC applauds Senator Grassley’s floor statement today and we hope that the FDA heard him.
Continue Reading Senator Grassley Hammers the FDA on the Senate Floor
CBS Evening News: FDA spying on their own scientists
NWC Executive Director Stephen Kohn spoke to CBS Evening News tonight about the chilling effect the FDA’s illegal whistleblower surveillance program has on employees’ willingness to report serious health and safety issues. You can TAKE ACTION to stop the government’s highly intrusive and harmful surveillance program by sending an email to your elected officials.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf
NWC Response to Article Documenting Illegal FDA Surveillance
Today, the New York Times released a groundbreaking story on the government’s secret spying program on a group of whistleblowers employed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Stephen M. Kohn, the Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center and the lead attorney for the FDA whistleblowers, issued the following statement:
We hope that the …
U.S. Special Counsel Warns Agencies Not to Spy on Whistleblowers
The OSC issued a memorandum today stating that electronic surveillance of an employee’s contacts with an Inspector General and/or the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is illegal.
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Congress Considers Granting PHS Whistleblower Protections
House and Senate leaders are in "conference" right now debating whether or not employees in the Public Health Service (PHS) will obtain whistleblower protections. At stake is whether or not thousands of PHS employees who work at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be protected…
NWC Demands Immediate Release of FDA Spying Documents
Last week, the National Whistleblowers Center filed a motion for preliminary injunction under the Freedom of Information Act in U.S. District Court in DC. The motion has been filed in order to get the FDA to release all documents pertaining to their illegal surveillance of employees’ private email correspondence. NWC has a limited number of…
Congress Questions Federal E-mail Surveillance Policies
Yesterday, Senator Charles Grassley and Representative Darrell Issa released a letter asking the Obama Administration for assistance in assessing the e-mail monitoring policies of all federal agencies. This letter was sent in light of Congressional and Office of Special Counsel investigations into the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) illegal targeting of whistleblowers for highly-intrusive monitoring.…
New York Times editorial supports FDA whistleblowers
In today’s editorial, the New York Times expresses concerns about the targeted surveillance of whistleblowers at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The editorial recounts the claims made by six scientists and physicians who raised concerns about the safety and effectiveness of devices approved by higher FDA officials. FDA managers then began a campaign…
Senator Grassley’s Ten Scathing Questions for the FDA
FDA managers were looking for dirty laundry on whistleblowers, but Senator Grassley seems to think it’s the managers that need to clean up their act. He wrote a letter demanding prompt answers to ten questions that every public servant – indeed, every citizen – should be asking about the FDA’s illegal surveillance program…
Continue Reading Senator Grassley’s Ten Scathing Questions for the FDA