Blog #9: Whistleblowers

 A whistleblower is a government employee that leaks information about government wrongdoing. They provide the “right information to the right people”, meaning they provide evidence of wrongdoing to a government supervisor or leader. Once this information is given to an authorized recipient, the whistleblower has made what is called a protected disclosure. A protected disclosure is "a disclosure by a Federal employee, contractor, or military member to an authorized recipient of information believed to be a violation of law, rule, or regulation”. Following the protected disclosure, they are offered whistleblower protections. 

If this information is provided to an unauthorized recipient, which is anyone without a security clearance or doesn’t have a need- to- know, it can cause damage to national security. In this case, the whistleblower could be subject to consequences such as administrative, civil, or criminal penalties. 

Whistleblowing protects society because it makes sure that important and critical information gets to the right people. Getting this information to the right people ensures efficient and effective government. It also makes sure that there are no problems with sensitive national security information such as fraud or abuse. 

Whistleblowing provides people with a lawful and safe way to report crucial information. It get time sensitive and important information to the right people so they can take action for the greater good. It also saves taxpayers millions of dollars a year, and ensures that the government stays ethical and serves the public interest. Whistleblowing also protects the health, welfare, and safety of the public, and encourages any government employee to report any wrong doings that they see. 

Overall, whistleblowing done in a lawful right way is very beneficial for the rights of the people. It also can prevent corruption within the government. These people who whistleblow stand up for what they think is wrong and corrupt and inform the public about the problem.

EXAMPLES 

Edward Snowden is one of the most famous whistleblowers in US political history. He is responsible for leaking information from the U.S National Security Agency. He wanted his identity to remain public after he leaked top secret documents. Snowden was an intelligence contractor for the U.S National Security Agency and revealed classified information- gathering surveillance. From 2009-2013, Snowden gathered information about NSA's surveillance and activities. 

His discovery of this information and release of it to the public uncovered many other programs such as PRISM which is an undercover- data mining operation that collected private data from large companies such as Apple, Google, and Facebook. The NSA was also exposed for a court order to Verizon to turn over metadata for millions of its users to them. 

Snowden was charged with espionage in June of 2013 by the United States Government under the Espionage Act. The United States attempted to extradite him back from Hong Kong, but Snowden fled to Russia where he has been since. 

After Snowden’s exposure of the NSA, sections of the Patriot Act were updated and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was updated. President Obama also created a panel of outsiders to look at the government’s surveillance and practices. This panel ended up determining that the NSA should not be allowed to collect any data from any internet or phone service providers, as well as other forms of media. 

Another famous whistleblower is Chelsea Manning who leaked thousands of military records about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to WikiLeaks in 2010. Manning was a former army intelligence analyst who was working in Iraq at the time. This is the largest leak in U.S history and is controversial as some people think of her as a hero, and others as a traitor. One part of the information that  Manning shared was a video of soldiers shooting at Iraq civilians because they mistaked them for the enemy. Manning was prosecuted for her exposure of government information, and served 7 years in prison. 

The last example of a famous whistleblower that I am going to address is Daniel Elsberg who is famous for the leak of the Pentagon Papers. Elsberg was an analyst for a classified study of the war in Vietnam that was created by Robert McNamara, the Secretary of Defense. This study of the war in Vietnam became known as the Pentagon Papers. Elsberg and Anthony copied this report secretly because they thought that the Vietnam War was unwinnable and unethical. They attempted to get the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to hold hearings on the papers, but their attempt failed. They then decided to provide this copy of the report to the New York Times and the Washington Post. After the information about these papers was released, Elsberg turned himself into the authorities where he was charged criminally. His charges ended up getting dismissed and he became known as an American hero to many people around the United States for releasing this information to the public.

Sources: https://www.whistleblowers.org/what-is-a-whistleblower/ 

https://www.dni.gov/ICIG-Whistleblower/what-is.html 

https://www.whistleblowers.org/whistleblowers/edward-snowden/

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/17/1129416671/chelsea-manning-wikileaks-memoir-readme 

https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/crime-corruption-and-cover-ups/daniel-ellsberg-and-the-pentagon-papers/ 

https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawing-justice-courtroom-illustrations/about-this-exhibition/crime-corruption-and-cover-ups/hearing-for-elliot-richardson-to-be-attorney-general/