Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com FBI Director James Comey can think of a few adjectives to describe NSA leaker Edward Snowden, but “whistleblower” and “hero” are not among them. NPR reports that Comey can’t understand why Snowden would be held up as a hero when all three branches of the U.S. government have approved surveillance of phone…
Fred Kaplan Slate I regard Daniel Ellsberg as an American patriot. I was one of the first columnists to write that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper should be fired for lying to Congress. On June 7, two days after the first news stories based on Edward Snowden’s leaks, I wrote a column airing (and endorsing)…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Leak information and you face a firing squad from the Justice Department. So suggests a page of the ATF’s online manual, some employees complained, reports the Washington Times. With the recent mass shootings and leaks, some ATF employees were offended, saying the agency already fosters a hostile environment for whistleblowers. ATF authorities…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Ranking Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said “very troubling allegations” have surfaced that suggest B. Todd Jones, who is President Obama’s choice to head the ATF, retaliated against a whistleblower, The Washington Times reports. The Iowa senator questioned why the confirmation hearings last week weren’t delayed while an investigation of Jones continues. When…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com An independent watchdog group for the Justice Department is investigating claims that President Obama’s nominee to head the ATF retaliated against a whistleblower, the Roll Call reports. B. Todd Jones is accused of suspending an employee in retaliation for lodging a complaint. Carolyn N. Lerner, the head of the Office of…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The FBI is trying to determine whether a former Rutgers basketball employee tried to extort the university by threatening to release damaging videos showing ex-coach Mike Rice shoving players and calling them gay slurs, the Associated Press reports. The former employee, Eric Murdock, quit his job last year at the basketball program’s…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com A Border Patrol agent who said he and his family were subjected to “ugly harassment” by federal officials in retaliation for complaining that the Port Angeles station is wasting resources reached a settlement with the agency, the Associated Press reports. Christian Sanchez settled with Border Patrol over his whistleblower retaliation claim during…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The ATF special agent who was fired recently after blowing the whistle on the failed gun-running operation, Fast and Furious returned to his job, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports. Vince Cefalu is back on the payroll for at least 45 days while the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, which oversees federal employment…
