Whistleblower Protection & Retaliation Issues at the FBI (Ethical Issues in the 21st Century)

Whistleblowers help safeguard the federal government against waste, fraud, and abuse -- however, they also risk retaliation by their employers. For example, in 2002, a former FBI agent allegedly suffered retaliation after disclosing that colleagues had stolen items from Ground Zero following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Department of Justice (DOJ) found in her favor over 10 years after she reported the retaliation. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed DOJ's process for handling such complaints and in this book examines the time DOJ took to resolve FBI whistleblower retaliation complaints; the extent to which DOJ took steps to resolve complaints more quickly; and the extent to which DOJ complied with certain regulatory reporting requirements. Furthermore, in the context of the Intelligence Community (IC), whistleblowers are generally employees or contractors of federal intelligence agencies who bring to light information on agency wrongdoings. The threat of retaliation may deter potential whistleblowers from disclosing information on agency wrongdoing. There is seemingly tension between the desire to eliminate this deterrence, and thus encourage whistleblowers to bring agency misconduct to light, and the need to protect government secrets which, if disclosed publicly, could be harmful to the country's national security interests. This book concludes with a discussion on three sources of IC whistleblower protection against retaliation.