Yesterday, the Senate published the bill and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) issued a press release and floor statement announcing his strong opposition to this bill because it will chill employee rights to report wrongdoing at intelligence agencies and will not afford employees due process if they are accused of violating this provision.
Continue Reading Pension Stripping Bill Passes Senate Committee

Tomorrow in a “closed” mark-up at 2:30 pm EST, the members of the Senate Intelligence Committee plan to slip into an appropriations bill a provision that will give the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the heads of other intelligence agencies, such as the CIA and NSA, the power to strip whistleblowers of their pensions by simply accusing them of leaking classified information
Continue Reading Whistleblowers’ Pensions Threatened By Intelligence Committee

On Saturday, January 8, 2011, Stephen M. Kohn, National Whistleblowers Center Executive Director, appeared on CBS Evening News. The news segment covered the United States Department of Justice subpoena of private information on select WikiLeaks supporters. The government may have the right to this type of information, but it is vital to weigh First Amendment

Today, Stephen Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, issued the following statement expressing his concern about the rise in retaliatory investigations in the wake of the WikiLeaks scandal:

The WikiLeaks scandal is being used to justify a witch hunt against federal employees suspected of being whistleblowers. Currently, the NWC has obtained information documenting abusive investigatory tactics being used against federal employees, including monitoring the private emails and seizing computer hard-drives from employees who disclosed non-classified information to Congress.  The U.S. Constitution protects government workers who report waste, fraud and abuse to the American people.  However, in the first two years of the Obama presidency, more Americans have been indicted for alleged media leaks then under any other president in U.S. history, including Richard Nixon.Continue Reading WikiLeaks Scandal Demonstrates Need for Whistleblower Protection

In yesterday’s Washington Post, an editorial called "Charging WikiLeaks" urges the Obama administration to refrain from pressing criminal charges against WikiLeaks leaders for releasing classified State Department cables. "Media outlets do not have a legal duty to abide by the government’s secrecy demands," the editorial declares. What should the government do? At the end of