Warrantless Search and Surveillance Programs Exposed
Links and Resources
MSPB Continues its Long Standing Practice of Violating Rights of Whistleblowers
The plight of LAMPLIGHTERS - Diogenes searching
for an honest man
WHISTLEBLOWER RESOURCES
IN THE NEWS
Federal Inspector General Report claims Bush surveillance program was massive
Washington - The Bush administration built an overreaching domestic surveillance operation, amassing information far beyond the warrantless wiretapping. A team of five federal Inspectors General compiled a report, questioning the legality and the magnitude of domestic spying. It refers to “unprecedented collection activities” by U.S. intelligence agencies under an executive order signed by President Bush after 9/11terror attacks. Most of the intelligence information obtained under this surveillance was not related to anti-terrorism investigations, the report said.The only piece of the intelligence-gathering operation acknowledged by the Bush White House was the wiretapping-without-warrants effort, which allowed the National Security Agency to intercept international communications that passed through U.S. cables without seeking court orders.
Recent News
1
R E C E N T
Department of Justice was largely kept out of the loop as to the extent of the surveillance program
A government report raised new questions about whether the Bush administration improperly politicized the DOJ to dramatically expand the president's powers, while keeping key officials in the dark about a post-9/11 surveillance and other anti-terror programs.Vast majority of the DOJ officials were unaware of the spying effort, including the deputy attorney general. The surveillance program, and the Justice Department's role in it, was so controversial that the deputy attorney general, James Comey, and FBI Director Robert Mueller both threatened to resign over it in 2004 because they believed it was illegal. The findings were contained in a joint report issued in July of 2009 by the Inspectors General for Justice, the Pentagon, the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Agency, the high-tech spy shop that ran the program in the aftermath of the 2001 terror attacks.
more...
CONSUMER ALERT
OnStar and its use for customer data-mining and government surveillance
more...
CONSUMER ALERT
Patriot Act, SARs, FinCEN and your financial privacy
more...
Whistleblower Resources
Whistleblower Litigation
Latest News
WHISTLEBLOWERS BY TERM
LAMPLIGHTERS AT HEART
The cost of fraud in the U.S. is $660 billion annually;
Government fraud takes away from Americans, destroys lives, compromises national security;
Do you have what it takes to be a lamplighter? Protect your future, know your rights and be prepared for the dangers that lie ahead.
R E P O R T S
more...
more...
Leading National Security Whistleblowers Urge Obama Action To Ensure Protections
July 28, 2009
Dear President Obama:
On May 8, 2007, your presidential campaign promised America's whistleblowers in writing that you stood behind their need for legal protection and fully supported federal court access and jury trials for all federal employees...Now we need your help. While the House version of the bill is more inclusive, the Senate version, S. 372 , lacks many key protections. The Senate bill currently lacks coverage for the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who participate in the global war on terror and oversee a budget well over $150 billion.
Please stand by your promise and ensure that all federal employees receive comprehensive whistleblower protections...The past ten years have demonstrated the invaluable contributions of whistleblowers. We have made countless preventable mistakes, including the failure to search Moussaoui, abuses in Abu Ghraib, and lies to Congress about secret CIA programs. The need to fully protect national security whistleblowers is indisputable. They are vital to our country's safety, and their future is in your hands.
Respectfully submitted,
Sibel Edmonds
FBI Whistleblower and Director of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
National Whistleblowers Center Calls for Immediate Review of Lame Duck MSPB Appointees
Washington, D.C. June 24, 2009. On June 22, 2009, the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) issued a long awaited ruling in Robert J. MacLean v. Department of Homeland Security Agency. Mr. MacLean blew the whistle on the Department of Homeland Security's Transportation Security Agency (TSA) plan to improperly remove U.S. Air Marshals from long distance flights during a heightened terrorist alert. Mr. MacLean was concerned that the TSA's plan posed a serious threat to public health and safety. After Mr. MacLean's internal warnings were ignored, he made a public disclosure that was protected under the Whistleblower Protection Act. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subsequently fired Mr. MacLean in flagrant violation of the law... The MSPB declined to review this retroactive relabeling and upheld Mr. MacLean's termination.
WHISTLEBLOWER RESOURCES
more...
According to POGO, the Whisfleblower Protection Act (WPA) has "suffered from a series of crippling judicial rulings [that] have rendered the Act useless, producing a dismal record of failure for whistleblowers and making the law a black hole." Thomas Devine, one of the WPA's key advocates stated: "My baby turned out to be Frankenstein."
During the entire Bush administration, the MSPB ruled in favor of whistleblowers in only two cases. Sincel 1994, Federal whistleblowers have lost more than 98.5 percent of cases at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
The GAP today offered praise for two MSPB appointments by President Obama. Unlike Bush administration appointees who compiled a 1-44 track record against whistleblowers, these leaders are seasoned veterans with a proven track record of commitment to the merit system throughout their careers.