Whistleblower Protection Blog : Whistleblower Lawyer & Attorney : National Whistleblower Legal Defense and Education Fund : Whistleblower Protection, Fraud Claims : Washington DC

U.S. District Court Judge Lamberth has ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to grant security clearances to the lawyers on both sides of a case so they can participate in the adjudication of what relevant evidence is properly classified.  As first reported by Josh Gerstein of Politico.com, the order sets a new precedent for the limits on the executive branch's control over security clearances. The case is Horn v. Huddle, Case No. 94-1756 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Judge Lamberth said at page 12 that, "The state secrets privilege is a judicial doctrine, and when the Court evaluates the privilege, its evaluation is not merely and academic exercise. When the privilege is denied, the Court has the ability to order the information disclosed in litigation. Were the rule otherwise, the Executive Branch could immediately ensure that the 'state secrets privilege' was successfully invoked simply by classifying information, and the Executive's actions would be beyond the purview of the judicial branch. This would of course usurp the judicial branch's obligation 'to say what the law is.'"

The order concludes that, "the attorneys need to be involved in the process for the case to move forward while minimizing the risk to national security . . . the deference generally granted the Executive Branch in matters of classification and national security must yield when the Executive attempts to exert control over the courtroom."

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To get the latest news on today's deposition testimony by national security whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, I have been reading The Brad Blog.  Investigative journalist and commentator Brad Friedman reports that Edmonds was able to testify in response to all the questions.  No attorneys from the Department of Justice or the FBI showed up.  No court orders prevented the depostion from proceeding.  Of particular relevance to Rep. Jean Schmidt's complaint against challenger David Krikorian, Edmonds reportedly confirmed that Schmidt's donors were agents of the Turkish government intent on suppressing public awareness of the Armenian Genocide.  However, the Brad Blog reports that Edmonds' testimony went further in showing the extent to which Turkish agents will go.  According to The Brad Blog, in one incident, a female Turkish agent allegedly seduced a married female member of Congress who was going to support a resolution acknowledging the Armenian Genocide.  The Brad Blog reports that the agent recorded the seduction, and then allegedly used it to extort the congresswoman to oppose the resolution. 

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Today’s front page article in the Washington Times exposes the legislative hurdles faced by whistleblowers and notes the Administration’s role in the process stating, “White House drafts weaken some protections.”  The Administration claims to support significant improvements in the law. However, the exclusive article by Tom LoBianco says, “Despite its pledge to better protect federal employees who expose wrongdoing, the Obama administration privately sought to weaken protections for national security whistleblowers under legislation making its way through Congress.”  
 

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Jesselyn Radack, a whistleblower from the Department of Justice, has called on Congress to enact legislation that will give national security whistleblowers access to jury trials.  In an op-ed article for the Massachusetts Herald News, Radack describes how Bush-era surveillance of emails is continuing with a new "Einstein 3" program.  Promoted as a protection against hackers, the program will also monitor the outgoing emails of government employees.  In this environment, those government employees will need the protection of jury trials when they raise concerns about illegality and abuse that their bosses want to hide.

Radack blew the whistle on how the Justice Department knew that "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh had an attorney when they questioned him without his attorney's presence.  She now works for the Government Accountability Project.

The Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA), as proposed in the House (HR 1507), would provide access to jury trials for all federal employees, including those in national security agencies.  A Senate bill, S. 372, would exclude national security agencies, and impose barriers to jury trials for all other federal employees.  The National Whistleblowers Center (NWC) analysis of the Senate bill is available online. If you want to join Jesselyn Radack in calling on Crongress to enact a strong whistleblower protection with jury trials for all federal employee whistleblowers, sign up for NWC's action alerts.

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Richard Convertino's Privacy Act lawsuit against the U.S. government is now addressing a question of whether a U.S. attorney can conceal his emails to his attorney sent over the government's computers. Convertino was one of America’s top federal prosecutors. The government selected him to conduct a high-profile terrorism trial in Detroit. He lost his job after blowing the whistle on incompetence in the Bush Administration’s “war on terror.” High ranking Justice Department officials then leaked confidential information in an attempt to discredit Mr. Convertino. The government officials with access to the confidential information all submitted affidavits saying they did not leak the information.  Now one of those officials, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel, is trying to block Convertino's access to emails saved on government computers. The dispute highlights some common problems in whistleblower cases, and also suggests which U.S. government official most likely leaked Convertino's private information and then lied in a sworn affidavit to cover up the retaliation.  Today, the Detroit News reports on the dispute. 

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