Thank you for this article. We, the people, need it.
As a former whistle blower, I know that we all suffer when the truth is not revealed and acted upon. See https://www.legalreader.com/whistleblowers-still-unprotected/
1
Given Donald Trump’s years of depredations concerning his casinos (money laundering, stock fraud), phony foundation, real estate practices (lying on loan apps and prospectuses), plus estate tax fraud evasion, one would think that Preet Bharara would have a lot to answer for. Why exactly did his office fail to prosecute for ANY of these crimes and so save us from our current political nightmare?
2
When Trump's tax returns are revealed through legal procedures, we will learn about the con-game played by the con-man in the oval office.
Reckoning Day is growing closer.
1
@Mark Sullivan
I guess Mike Pompeo was absent for that course.
1
Sounds like it should definitely be the law of city, state and especially federal government after this crew.
On a more positive note, Preet for next attorney general to clean out Barr’s DOJ, so we can be proud again of the country’s Attorney General and Justice Department. What a spring cleaning that rathole needs. Not one whistle blower there yet. At least, Jeff Sessions recused himself but he’s also responsible for bringing the racist Steven Miller to the forefront and all the evil that entails.
1
Whistleblowers are always in peril because snitches get stitches. But they must persist.
2
Only the corrupt remain silent about corruption.
1
Dr. M. L. King Jr. : "Silence is betrayal".
1
Imagine my surprise seeing Preet Bharara's name with a colon before it, in the title of this article (on the list of links to opinion pieces "Related" to the Ukraine scandal) as of if he was being called upon to report corruption in the SDNY. That's not the case, to my relief, but once I realized my error, I thought about times I should have and didn't report corruption. I did it once, though. The situation involved repeated sexual abuse of a developmentally delayed teenager. I'll spare readers the details, but I cannot describe the torment and, to some extent fear, that I went through before reporting the crime. Looking back, my fear was more than offset by the relief I felt when the perpetrator and enablers (social worker, nurse, my direct superior and other staff working with the victim) were exposed. I'm from California and coincidentally the highest ranking government official who saw to it the case was prosecuted was also from CA. I'm convinced now that the hierarchy below that guy elevated my claims because they knew I would bypass them and go directly to the top if necessary. I actually think my CA roots and those of that top guy were a factor, as the state we were working in is known for being extremely conservative. Finally, I hope many "G-men" and women are inspired by not only the whistleblower in the Ukraine case, but especially Yovanovitch and Hill. Heroes all.
2
Do the right thing or suffer the consequences.
1
The Australian government agency I work for requires employees to sign a yearly anticorruption declaration whereby the employee acknowledges their duty to report even the suspicion of fraud or corruption. It may be worth finding out how their stats on uncovering fraud and corruption compare to those in NY to see whether it actually works and how seriously employees take it.
I agree with everything you say in this article (by way of discalimer Preet and I were lawyers together for about 3 years at a large NYC lawfirm). But, the "duty to report" is not necessary if the whistleblower speaks openly and publicly about the conduct. I used to hold John Dean in contempt for being Nixon's WH counsel.
But, now looking back on Watergate from a distance of 40+ years, I believe that John Dean's public testiminony to Congress was act of uncommon valor.
2
As I read this brilliant piece, I'm reminded of West Point's Honor Code: Cadets with knowledge of cheating or other breaches of the Code are required to come forward and report the breach to authorities. If they don't, they, themselves, have violated the code.
This is never an easy thing to do and there will be personal repercussions, even when the institution protects the whistle blower. But it is essential to maintaining the integrity of the institution.
Our government, especially since 9/11, has become obsessed with secrecy and surveillance -- often of questionable constitutionality. This has made it all the easier for those in power to hide misdeeds under the cloak of "national security." We need strong laws requiring public servants who have knowledge of wrong-doing within their institutions to come forward. And we need a law to make sure they are protected.
61
@Mark Sullivan
The West Point honor code struck me, too, in the first paragraph.
Civilian control of our military has been one of the United States' hallmark values. This tradition would have been much harder to maintain if our generals hadn't largely stayed out of civilian political issues.
The West Point honor code probably deserves some of the credit for this.
2
@Grennan
I think Mike Pompeo has either forgotten that honor code or never paid any attention to it in the first place. Come to think of, I've never understood how Pompeo finished first in his class at West Point. Maybe now we know...
9
Former harassment adviser here --at a large development institution. Having defended whistle-blowers (all victims of harassment are also basically whistle blowers, especially as perpetrators are often repeat offenders) it is clear that confidentiality and freedom from recriminations are essential to creating a culture that reports wrongdoing.
Unfortunately creating such a culture is not easy. Wrong doing too often is perpetrated by those higher in the hierarchy. And there is a vested interest among those who hired/vetted/work with the offender to overlook wrongdoing. And for the institution to likewise not admit to failing basic obligations to ensure the integrity of its operations and staff.
At some point the rights of the accused will be held up --the right to confront and respond to accusers. That was the case in our institution. As a result, getting witnesses to come forward was often very difficult. The culture of recrimination was omnipresent, subtle, exercised by supervisors: 'not a team player', 'delivery problem', 'poor client relations', 'needs to improve writing', 'dropped off'...
Requiring witnesses to wrongdoing to come forward is good. Better still are procedures and resources to help whistle-blowers, a few public hangings and leadership outspokenly committed to safeguarding and recognizing whistle-blowers for doing their civic duty --all prerequisites for reaching a cultural tipping point.
34
Corruption operates on intimidation and secrecy, it fears the truth coming to light.
If we have learned anything so far from the Trump/ Ukraine
matter. it is how high ranking officials fought so hard to hide the truth.
Whistle blowers expose truth.
We should all commend the brave State Department officials who were not intimated when ordered not to testify by the Trump White House.
They are standing for truth, which is more powerful than corruption.
54
Right. You blow the whistle, point thar finger. Get fired, take it to the press. Nobody will hire you. If you can prove that they were retaliating against you for telling on them, you might get a little money, but chances are, you won't. Lose your house. Lose your spouse. Expect a major lifestyle change.
20
@BorisRoberts
This writer must be speaking from experience. And speaking my own and my husband’s experience, I can say it’s all true. It takes a huge toll on a person and a family to report wrong-doing. We, as a couple, agreed on the reporting. And when he was retaliated against, my first thought was: “They May be taking his job, but they are not taking our house!” Whereupon, I redoubled our repayment of the mortgage, being in a position to up my own work load.
I hugely support everything recommended in the article. And my thanks for this comment as well. The toll on a person and a family, for becoming a whistle-blower is huge.
12
Retired after 34 years combined military and civil service my take is somewhat different - we should not require reporting until we have absolute protections in place. When is an apple not an apple. When the opinion of the apple spotter is just that an opinion not necessarily the facts. We live in a world where not everything may be classified either black or white. The more senior a person becomes in government the more they should know the difference. Well intended whistle blowers should not be punished or retaliated against in any situation. BUT not all whistleblowers have the purest of intentions nor the knowledge or the law or regulation they suspect was broken. Move expeditiously and objectively in investigating the complaint and ensure the complaint is (I) factual, (ii) with merit and (iii) not based on personal preferences or in retaliation for a personal situation.
12
I am all for the idea to encourage whistleblowers to report malfeasance through mandatory regulation.
The problem comes not only from sanction and penalty on those that do report corruption; it is also markedly common for the institutions that one is asked to report corruption to--the investigative tribunals and government departments--to be just as corrupt as the other sectors, and these will not investigate in good faith, let alone protect whistleblowers.
Until we can find some way for the watcher to be watched, whistleblowers will continue to be reluctant to come forward.
33
I have learned to pay attention to what Preet Bharara says, and have found his interview podcasts to be inspirational.
I do hope the two authors of this article, with a few others, considers writing a Primer for Democracy, with a beginning chapter on returning to a democracy from a corrupt autocracy.
The world is ready for the real war, the fight against the pretend democracies like Russia's and Turkey's, and for a way to shut up cutthroat capitalism's Billionaires.
Step by step, regaining the ballot box, the legal system, and listening to the needs of the poor and the powerless...
Hugh
186
@Hugh Massengill
Tax the billionaires until they aren't billionaires anymore.
2
A whistle blower is someone with inside knowledge, who is vulnerable. If we want the inside knowledge of how we are being abused by power, then we've got to protect the sources of information.
Yet we must also honor other principles about power. Those too are designed to prevent abuses *of us* that have really happened and been a serious problem in the past.
Our legal history goes back to include the Star Chamber of secret evidence used against some in power or aspiring to power.
From that we evolved the vital importance of the right to face witnesses, and know evidence against us, and to bring our own evidence in response. It has come to include the right to disclosure of "exculpatory evidence," that is evidence known to the prosecutor and often from the same sources that does not actually support the charges.
It is easy to get an unfair conviction and abuse power if one side has total control of evidence and can present only the parts it prefers.
Protecting a whistle blower runs head on into the Star Chamber.
We don't have our laws to protect Trump. We have them to protect us from political figures we'd surely get if the law permitted it. If an abuse is possible, some abuser will do it.
Yes, we need whistle blowers. But yes, we need protection for all of us against having our politics done by whistle blower standards of secret charges from secret witnesses and only one part of the evidence produced.
The balance benefits all of us, not just the guy targeted today.
12
@Mark Thomason
How about protection from the whistle blower in chief as he was more or less described by Steven Miller on national TV?
4
@Mark Thomason
I'm not sure what you really mean. Are you trying to say that one should not believe the unsupported word of a whistleblower? That's an accepted principle. Are you saying that every whistleblower should be publicly exposed and made vulnerable to retaliation? That would be counterproductive.
3
This article makes no mention of Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden—all three criminalized for exposing illegal and criminal practices by the U.S. Government. We don’t need laws to demand whistleblowing. We need laws to protect whistleblowers when they disclose the truth.
35
@Bonnie Weinstein
And John Kiriakou (imprisoned) and others, mostly victims of the Obama administration, which unaccountably went after whistleblowers with a vengeance not seen under any other president. (Trump is still getting his vengeances together, if he can manage it.)
1
Wonderful piece but I wouldn’t have used the word stigma when saying mandatory reporting of a wrong removes some of the stigma. There’s no stigma — at least, not with the good guys. These whistle-blowers are, as the article points out, heroic.
15
Anti-whistler blower-support suggest that no one is in charge. Sure we want to avoid intentionally malicious "cry wolf" scenarios, but isn't our justice system supposed to sort that out?
Wow! Very Informative.
That DOI and statues in support of minimizing corruption by Public Officials is genius. But I thought that Federal & Local Governments have had Civil Service Commissions with lawful authorities to tackle public misconduct issues for almost a century? In fact that is what distinguished a private employee from a Civil Servant--a different work standard or obligation.
As mentioned though, laws & regulations require person's with a willingness to abide by and enforce them.
2
"A statutory duty normalizes the reporting of wrongdoing and lessens the stigma of doing so. Rules can operate to shape culture, not just punish, and a culture in which the rules are well known supports their efficacy and makes compliance easier."
I wish we had national laws to that effect. I suspect in this administration, people would be falling all over themselves to report, and thus comply with the law.
It might--note I said, "might "--discourage the reckless speech of a man more suited to the Cosa Nostra culture than the presidency, hurling accusations of traitor, spy, rat, and any number of names to indicate his displeasure at being called out for his illegal actions.
11
Ninety former national security officials under Obama and Bush, and three who served for a period under Donald Trump, have signed an “Open Letter to the American People” defending the CIA officer, as yet unidentified, whose whistleblower complaint has become the basis for the House of Representatives opening an impeachment inquiry into the president.
The signers include former Officials:
CIA directors: John Brennan, Michael Hayden and Michael Morell, Director of National Intelligence: James Clapper
Defense Secretary: Chuck Hagel
Defense Undersecretary: Michele Flournoy
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs: Wendy Sherman (Obama’s point-woman on Ukraine).
What a nice bunch!
All these officials had a much different attitude toward genuine American whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden and John Kiriakou, who exposed crimes of US imperialism.
None of these genuine whistleblowers received any form of protection. On the contrary, they have been brutally persecuted.
Kiriakou, who went to prison for blowing the whistle on torture, noted the dubious role of one of the whistleblower’s attorneys, Mark Zaid, suggesting that the entire “whistleblower” complaint against Trump is likely an operation directed by higher-level officials at the agency.
It seems the CIA is doing an in house coup similar to coups they've initiated elsewhere while trying to repair the public image of their new pawn party, the Democrats, by making a hatchet man into a whistleblower.
2
@Chris I agree the attitude towards individuals who disclose classified information in a open environment is different that an allegation of criminal behavior not involving classified information. There is an avenue for raising concerns involving classified information that does not involve revealing national secrets or exposing members of the intelligence community.
2
@ek perrow
Whistleblower protections offered by the federal government are great in theory.
The proper channels for reporting concerns are designed to deter complaints. Those that do use the proper channels are frequently exposed by those handling the complaints, leading to retaliatory actions that built-in protections don't offer an adequate remedy for.
The Obama administration prosecuted more whistleblowers than all previous administrations combined.
Edward Snowden exposed the most extensive illegal domestic surveillance system in the history of man.
Chelsea Manning unmasked serious war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan and proved that senior Pentagon officials and generals had lied about the Iraq civil war as it unfolded.
John Kiriakou went to prison for blowing the whistle on torture, yet none of the torturers ever faced prosecution.
Whistleblowers, don't work for the ruling class.
Their objective is to expose the crimes committed by the ruling class against its own citizens.
The intelligence agencies are the class enemies of the people, full stop. No one who claims to be on the side of the people would or should ever say a single positive word about these agencies.
Have we forgotten all their sins?
Mass surveillance, drone assassination, illegal rendition, torture, regime change coups - and that's just some of what they've done since 9/11
Yet, all of a sudden, the entire intel apparatus is re-born, like a phoenix from the ashes, as agents of truth and honor.
Amazing
1
The CNN employee-turned-whistleblower was fired once he publicized his recordings, revealing CEO's demands for constant impeachment coverage and employees' disgruntlement at this lack of journalism.
2
Your op-ed is timely because DOI ought to clarify NYC’s “Affordable Housing” lottery program via the Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) agency.
It seems that standardized, common sense, plain-language definitions for rules and requirements are misconstrued or interpreted whimsically by certain property management developers. Contradictory terminology, confusing mixed messages of double-talk and illogical circular explanations from various housing administrators, suspiciously, gives the appearance of favoritism, perhaps corruption or merely bureaucratic incompetence. Unfortunately, the public suffers from such injustice.
2
I'm afraid I have a slightly different take on this. Of course it would be great if people who saw egregious behavior spoke up and were protected for doing so. But what is to stop us from all becoming a bunch of tattling snitches? Do we really want to have our neighbors and coworkers looking over our shoulders and possibly misconstruing our actions, or deliberately getting us into a position where we have to defend ourselves against false accusations?
Is there a balance?
1
I worked as a public servant in NYS for over 30 years. We all underwent training and were reminded periodically about ethics laws. This system is not perfect but it’s way better than anything else we’ve devised.
6
Preet, tell me what happened to Epstein really, and then tell me it is a walk in the park to institute mandatory whistleblowing. These are very dangerous times.
2
Sorry, that's the Old America. We're in the New America, where all that matters is power and money, and everything and everyone is for sale.
7
It is interesting that one of the authors was fired by the Donald, who preferred to have a prosecutor from Mr. Giuliani's office in his own home district.
5
What about the CNN whistleblower? Looks like he is being suppressed by news media.
2
Corruption in New York is rampant and usually under the radar.
Just ask the many business owners for their story, if they would tell you.
4
Good idea. Now do the same for unions.
2
Some issues are worth blowing the whistle on, others aren't, such as the policies of Donald J. Trump, the President of the United States of America. Thank you.
1
@Southern Boy Wow! Seriously?? Oy.
6
@Southern Boy Are you saying the this president is above the law? It certainly sounds as if this is what you are implying.
9
@cindy peterson,
It's not about being above the law; it's about blowing the whistle equally on Democrats as upon Republicans. Democrats, believe it or not, are just as dishonest as Republicans and they are demonstrating that now. It all depends on your perspective. Besides I support Trump. Thank you.
1
A duty to report corruption is easier said than done. And, unless you are what most of us may not be, a paragon of virtue, makes the need for regulation and public supervision the more urgent...and essential. It has been shown, over and over again, that when we go unsupervised, the temptation to take advantage of a situation of power, may be too hard to resist. We humans are no angels of course...but need not be devils either. Hence, the need to reinforce our duty to report malfeasance. Why do you think Trump, a superb cheater, has surrounded himself with like-minded enablers?
2
These writers who are experienced in the field of law and the prevention of corruption know very well that the only time a whistle blower needs protection from a chief executive is when the chief executive’s tactics are borrowed from mafia kingpins... Donald Trump thinks he’s a tough guy, but those of us who know him from his days in New York know that he is actually a loudmouth turned TV entertainer , with very little intestinal fortitude or courage . He has a talent for self survival as most sociopaths do, but in the final analysis it’s good to know that there are those who know , respect and abide by the rule of law. These individuals are , thank God , infinitely smarter than Donald Trump.
8
So what about the people who were part of the cover up at Johnson & Johnson and the pharma companies. Nothing ever happens to them. What about the corrupt lawyers who take advantage of their clients, nothing happens to them. What about the uncertified teachers who dont even attempt to teach, nothing happens to them. What about Boeing nothing happens to them even though the planes crashed, killed people because the bottom line mattered not quality.
I think it would be wonderful if everyone could be a whistle blower and there lives ,career wouldnt be destroyed. However that is not the case and never will be.
As long as greed is the building blocks to this country, nothing will ever change. I admire the courage of the people who are telling the truth about how this corrupt government is destroying the lives of everyday Americans. however Trump is threatening them they are in a no win scenario.
3
Most Americans believe that they can do whatever they wish because the constitution gives them permission....no matter if what they do is moral or immoral, decent or indecent, or right or wrong. With this kind of total freedom the future will have no need of prisons, law enforcement agencies, nor law books. Why? Because if the law allows you to do what you want, then there is no wrong you can do.
Blessed are those who do not see yet believe. To those who believe in His name: who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
I will post this here: In my opinion, if Trump is running for a second term, any Democrats nominee must refuse to debate.
First, Trump does not debate. Second, some press can no longer write “about”events; they inadvertently entertain and participate in the mockery of our information communication system. And third, debating would be enabling a sickness that is appropriate for a Comedy Club or a Third Reich.
I hope Mr Friedman and other opinion writers take this on and try to protect our Democratic process. BOTH candidates must have a tacit agreement that it is a debate, before it happens.
3
I work for Cook County, Illinois. Every employee has a mandatory requirement to report self dealing, malfeasance, corruption, political activity on County time or with County resources, retaliation against reporting, and criminal activity. Yesterday I completed my mandatory, annual ethics training refresher course. The remarkable thing is that this is not standard everywhere. Government and Private industry talk about "Best Practices". This one is foundational.
10
I work in health care, at a skilled nursing facility. Every one of us is a 'Mandatory Reporter'. None of us can 'decide' to look away from abuse or neglect without facing the possibility of consequences. Every person in a position of trust should also be so required.
6
Vanity Fair came out with an article in the last 48 hours about possible stock market manipulation that seems to anticipate and capitalize on positive remarks from Trump on trade, etc.
Apparently, the author contacted government agencies in a position to oversee this matter but got no-comments or a shrug in response.
Perhaps some brave civil servant at the SEC could get the whistle-blower ball rolling. Especially if they can determine who is doing some VERY profitable trading on behalf of which private citizens...or government officials?
20
It goes beyond blowing the whistle on bad behavior. Our economic system has become a place where we are "incentivized" to exceed the limits of good behavior. Most honest accounting would give us more accountable government across the board. It's boring, but would provide more sweeping change than some current "big idea" political policy papers. It would help restore faith in government. Even though NYC has this whistle blower rule it also has manpower rules on the books which make large scale projects, like subway upgrades outrageously expensive, and excessively lengthy. America needs to demand and celebrate good behavior from public servants. Right now we have a group among us who are celebrating bad public servant behavior as if it we were watching Wrestlemania. The lines between reality and scripted 'reality' need to be black and white. Whistle blower statues are a part of that process.
7
@Ask Better Questions
One step might be to treat infrastructure investments as a measure of last resort until the rules and level of accountability improve. Instead, politicians treat these magnets for waste as a life-affirming symbol of progress and effective governance.
If the existing infrastructure is tolerable, the best thing to do is keep tolerating it.
I am always amazed that so many people in the WH, Justice Dept. and State Dept. know what questionable actions are happening in front of them, yet only two people have come forward. It should be incorporated into the government culture to be required to report questionable actions and those that report are considered heroes and recompensed accordingly. Of course there would be a procedure that would weed out the questionable reports. But where or where is the leadership to create such a moral system.
5
I am a whistleblower, and can say such rules would benefit any workplace if there were safeguards in place to protect against false accusations of ignoring wrongdoing.
The lack of incentive for whistleblowers is a particular challenge for universities when both take in and spend giant sums of money.
Professors have tenure and others are often difficult to fire. Graduate students and those on scholarships have a serious career and financial threat hanging over their heads and have a hard time breaking from the pattern of tolerating anything for a few years then leaving.
Implementing and enforcing an honor code similar to the service academies and rules for employees similar to those described in this article seems likely to accomplish a lot. It may be by far the most effective approach to reducing the cost of going to college, the value employers place on degrees and the ROI of federal research funds.
6
Not just government. If engineers in VW, Boeing, PG&E and many other corporations were required by their professional regulating bodies to expose misdeeds... many lives would be saved. We can't expect corporate execs, and esp. politicians, to do this... for them, truth is malleable, and accountability is avoidable.
9
I support this, but I would add that Congress should pass a law that the DOJ shall pursue an indictment of a sitting President if he violates the law. We need to hold the President to account when he violates the law, and not simply rely upon the impeachment process. The OLC opinion needs to be over-ruled by statute.
4
I know that this is a "sketchy" idea but I'd like to create a not-for-profit organization that "incentivizes" whistle-blowing. Financial rewards of sizes TBD.
Submissions are first screened by specially designed software.
The next screeners are college students - journalism, law, political science.
Then it's the experts' turn.
Hmmm?
5
I served 20 years in the Air Force and, after a while in the private sector, joined the Federal civil service 11 years ago.
The biggest problem with whistleblowing that I've observed over those 31 years is there are no teeth in protections for those reporting fraud, waste, abuse or other problematic situations.
Until the protections include mandatory, non-parolable 20 year prison terms for reprisal or interference by non-political Federal civil servants or military personnel and non-parolable 50 year prison terms for Federal political appointees or office holders, there are no protections with "teeth".
Until reprisal penalities have "teeth" like a barracuda, there will always be a reluctance for blowing the whistle on problems in government.
10
Whistleblowing in the Federal government is not optional; it is required by all executive branch employees under Executive Order 12674, signed by President George Bush in 1989, and not revoked by Trump.
11
"Mandated reporting," is a lovely mantra.
It flows!
When the norm, value and ethics of the
sustaining culture is one of
personal accountability. Responsible-Abidingness.
For one's words, written or voiced, and
for one's done-deeds. As well as for needed
words, silently "captive," and
deeds not planned, carried out or
assessed so as to "Fail better."
Whistle-blowers, diverse people, are not
a seasonal or life-time vaccine for
epidemic, toxic, complacency and
complicity by the many.
ALL around. At all levels.
I find the characterization of "Whistle-Blower" used in this article to be misleading & almost Orwellian in it's attempt to sow confusion.
Assange, Snowden & Manning have faced serious & life threatening harm for sharing private information with the public, to say nothing of how it has obviously destroyed their ability to derive income.
The individual noted in this piece relating to Ukraine is much less of a "Whistle-Blower" and more an intelligence agent dutifully following the wishes of an angry ruling class.
I think it's ridiculous to claim that he/she risks their career when we can observe how much money Comey, Brennan, Clapper et al have made from cable news & or book sales after their attempts at illegally overthrowing the presidency.
Understand something, the Ukraine "Whistle-Blower" is working for those who still control the United States, Trump has no power whatsoever, the wishes of his voters have been thwarted by the ruling elite from the moment he announced his candidacy.
For whatever reason, the coup must go on!
There is no end to the magical thinking of evangelists and uninformed conservatives.
4
It is compulsory at West Point. Why should we exempt other government entities from doing the right thing?
1
Great idea! How about extending the whistle blower requirement to include all vendors, with exclusion from all govt contracts for 10 years as one of the penalties for not reporting? The DOD has extensive policies and programs related to required reporting that also might be adapted.
1
Most public entities require whistle blowing, particularly in harassment and discrimination situations. Employees are obligated to report incidents that they observe even if they are not involved.
2
In education and professions dealing with child care, there are mandated reporters who are legally required to notify authorities of any suspicion of child abuse otherwise being held responsible for negligence. It seems strange that government officials are not legally mandated reporters of corruption.
If you are aware of abuses and not reporting them, are you ethically complicit in them?
4
It may feel like an unfair burden, but each one of us who bears witness, intentionally or not, to wrongdoing faces the choice of reporting the wrongdoing or becoming complicit in the misconduct. Yes, this is a rather severe interpretation of moral obligations with regard to right and wrong, but there it is.
Many universities with honor codes place this burden to act squarely on students' shoulders. Students who witness or are otherwise aware of honor code violations are obligated by that very honor code to report the misconduct.
The Republicans in the House and Senate face this same choice, regardless of reporting requirements. They must not split hairs, they must not divide and distract with accusations of imperfect process. They either speak and take definitive action against the wrongdoing clear and visible to all of us, or they are complicit.
We are where we are. No Democrat and no Republican asked for this. We have a lawless president and there is but one choice. Country over party. Constitution over policy. Now or never.
11
@Joan Johnson
The GOP had a choice they wanted to be enablers to curry favor with this president. They put Trump above the country and who they were as Americans.
The Trump base are not Americans to choose corruption over democracy.
1
There are many people who witnessed unethical and illegal activities by Trump and his accomplices in the White House. Some of them have the kind of wealth and power that should protect them against any backlash. Still, they kept silent.
The most recent is John Bolton who knew all about what was happening between the White House and the Ukrainian government. Rex Tillerson saw Trump repeatedly attempting to carry out illegal activities. The list is long.
These people aided and abetted a corrupt government. If only they had had the courage to go public. Wouldn't it have been great if they had been compelled to report what they saw?
Silence = complicity.
37
@HK
UnAmerican pretending that by resigning it would all work out. None of these men cared enough about Americans at all and should be seen for what they are traitors;.
4
Ah yes so that Preet and his colleagues can then decide not to prosecute because the cases are too difficult...sniffle, sniffle...but the hair style looks good Preet!
2
What we need is to be protected, not hushed with settlements....
You can't just "say something, if you see something...."
So, NO! It doesn't work.
3
@Think bout it
Sometimes one has to just do what is right and deal with it. A law can be part of the equation, but there will be risk with or without a law. Like with most things, the bark is worse than the bite.
You need more elected and selected corrupt government officials going to jail and prison and fewer whistle-blowers.
The state of Illinois particularly Cook County and the City of Chicago are first in the nation in open official government bipartisan criminality.
An infamous Cook County judge took $ 15,000 from the Outfit to acquit an Outfit hitman in a bench trial. Before rendering a verdict he stupidly asked for more money. But 'they made him an offer that he couldn't refuse.'
The FBI was listening. And they sought to prosecute him again. His defense was double jeopardy. But the Supreme Court of the United States held that since the fix was in with the judge he wasn't in any jeopardy. He was retried, convicted and sent to prison. The judge committed suicide.
Shoeboxes and nickels will resonate with my fellow folks from Chicago Cook Illinois.
'Where's mine?" was what legendary Chicago journalist Mike Royko proclaimed was the unofficial Cook and Chicago political motto.
We both love and are embarrassed by 'Crook County' where the dead rise to vote early and often on every election day.
See 'The Chi' and 'South Side'.
3
@Blackmamba
Its all about the public who vote these crooks into office and then turn a blind eye
The public needs to stay involved and run these crooks out of office. The police department should stop shooting citizens and become ethical police officers.
It gets dicier, though, when a DA or an AG is corrupt, as Barr appears to be.
26
@Virginia
The GOP voted to put a corrupt individual on the Supreme Court, The GOP confirmed an AG who was part of the Iran Contra affair. It will take decades to build trust in these institutions that have been polluted by the GOP
9
I'm a lawyer. Under the Rules, whistle-blowing for me is compulsory.
I often remember the story of former Justice Victor Barron of the Kings County Supreme Court. The lawyer whom Justice Barron solicited the bribe wound up before the Disciplinary Committee for not reporting the conduct immediately (he, instead, went in with a tape recorder to record Barron shaking him down; the lawyer was later disbarred for unrelated grand larceny several years later).
The moral is that when you see misconduct, that's a "Stop the presses!" moment. You have to report it. Immediately.
In a just society, the public trust is sacrosanct and must be safeguarded above all. Allowing someone in a position of trust to say, "Well, it's not that big a deal. I don't want to make waves" allows that trust to be slowly eroded.
16
Judges are the least supervised of all US public officials. One dragged out a lawsuit against me for nine years before finally agreeing with our motion to dismiss on the grounds her court had no jurisdiction of the issue. She then retired unscathed.
8
I would like to blow the whistle on the impotent Moreland Commissioners who couldn't even write a corruption report they swore an oath to write -- even after reporting corruption in their preliminary report. How do they still have law licenses? Answer: the Bar and Attorney Disciplinary committees are incestuous pits of corruption (IMO). #InsideJob
Moreland Commissioners and Special Advisors:
Co-Chair William "Herbert" Fitzpatrick
Co-Chair Milton L. Williams, Jr. (working defense on USA v Percoco et al)
Joseph A. D'Amico, Special Advisor
Raymond W. Kelly, Special Advisor
Robert M. Morgenthau, Special Advisor
Barbara Bartoletti, Special Advisor
J. Patrick Barrett
Richard Briffault
Daniel J. Castleman
Derek P. Champagne
Eric Corngolld
Kathleen B. Hogan
Nancy Hoppock
Seymour W. James
David Javdan
Robert Johnson
David R. Jones
Lance Liebman
Joanne Mahoney
Gerald F. Mollen
Makau W. Mutua
Benito Romano
Frank A. Sedita III
P. David Soares
Kristy Sprague
Betty Weinberg Ellerin
Peter L. Zimroth
Thomas P. Zugibe
2
Seems this article was commissioned to help boost Mr. Bharara and help him in his continued criticism of the President. More than whistleblowing the City needs to change its contracting processes. CityTime, a Bloomberg baby, is a great example. Bloomberg could have bought one of tens of proven timecard systems. Instead, in typical NYC fashion, the fools running the City decided to build their own from scratch. To the end Bloomberg thought the project was a good one. Typical and many IT projects today continue to run amok. The MTA is also famous for this type of waste.
@Bob
Mr. Bharara is a former Federal prosecutor. Individual 1 is future Federal Felon. These two don’t mix unless in they are in Federal Court.
4
If you report all criminal activity in government you'll have to shut it down for a while. Criminality is way more wide spread than people outside government realize. The IGs and the FBI are not capable of understanding it. Well, mostly they don't care if corporations rip off the country and are criminal. They only will ever punish individuals and will never address the systematic widespread corruption that takes place. Look at the problem the FBI is having with Trumps criminality. They appear very inept or at least ineffectual.
I worked at a national lab where the last three directors of the lab were run off for various corrupt acts. One of the directors confronted with his criminality killed himself. The new director of the lab will eventually be found to be criminal and the next and the next and the next and that is because the organization is criminal. No one cares to do anything about it because the labs are political pork barrel. A lab can never be shut down according to the politicians and when results are not important corruption ensues. The FBI and the IGs are political entities as well and not really law enforcement. If someone was stealing from the wealthy then the FBI and IGs would be up in arms, but because it's just the US citizens who are the victims it is not seen as a crime.
The laws are for protecting the rich and punishing the poor. Overseers of government know this.
7
Here's a modest proposal. Rudy Giuliani, who as the mayor of New York signed onto the whistle blower policy, must surely realize the importance and power of whistle blowers in stifling corruption in government. Perhaps as the president's attorney, he could write the federal whistle blower statues! This would allay any lingering suspicions about the president's or his own alleged corruption.
(Dripping in irony here.)
9
Several of the comments here are clear indicators of how low we have gotten.
2
In the late 1980s, I worked for the military in Germany with children of military members. When I reported suspected child abuse, the weight of the entire US government came down on me. That's how it felt at the time by the military and again all through the US federal court system where I was told I did not have standing (I had a nearly week long trial) under the laws that protect children in special education, even though I was assured if I reported there would be no retaliation against me. There was. It's a flawed system. People do what people do and it's often times not good. A federal appellate judge asked the question, "What right did she have to advocate on behalf of the children?" They let the lower court decision stand. SCOTUS denied cert.
10
There is a wide range of things that are mandatory to report. Healthcare providers, teachers and therapists are required to report abuse. If anything more people need to report the crime of sexual, mental and physical abuse. This is as it should be
5
Whistle blowers are brave and much needed. They are also likely to experience a mental health crisis as a result of their action, as there's still a tendency to attack the messenger. Sad but true.
7
It really depends on where the information provided by the whistle blower ends up. In the case of the Ukraine/trump phone call whistle blower, the information was initially buried by Barr in the department of justice. It was through persistence, the courage of the whistleblower and good reporting that the complaint received the attention that it deserved. How many other complaints may have been buried in this way and how many people have been discouraged from coming forward as a consequence? The best protection for the whistle blower is to have a transparent and non -political review process.
9
As a mental health worker for several years, wI was taught that as a "mandated reporter", I had to report suspected cases of fraud or abuse, not that I could do so, but that I was legally obliged to do so. Such reports were taken seriously. Nothing is perfect, but it is better than not being responsible.
3
I have to add that Compulsory Voting would have a similar effect on our politics.
19
If a culture of corruption exists whistleblowers won't help much. As we have seen recently with Ukraine many top US political figures have family members engaged lucrative business dealings there and worldwide. The whistleblower listening to Trump phone conversations with Zelinski has indications of being politically motivated. Bidens $billions from Ukraine and China are of no concern.
Indeed selective whistleblowers can also be powerful tools for the most corrupt.
1
@Lane
Check your facts.
6
@Lane
How many of our fellow citizens are falsely informed by one TV channel that spews lies over the public airwaves?
@Lane is just one more of them. Bigly sad.
3
@Blank Finding credible news sources on TV is most difficult, most rely on sensationalism or emotional hooks. My sources are limited to the 2 largest surviving newspapers, quite pricey. Bland facts are usually found in the footnotes and links of articles not headlines as both dources my still have partisan lo leanings.
I don't think workers should be penalized for not reporting something as they can be fired or made their life miserable by reporting something. That's creating a catch22 for workers. How is that a good thing?
1
If the whistle blower has an agenda against someone, and they report hear say to make them lose an election, is that still a good practice?
If you start a rumor at the office to get rid of competition or some one you dislike, you better have proof or you can lose your job for harassment in the work place. But it seems such a thing can happen in Washington, organized by the CIA and it’s all peachy king.
I tell you, the damage done by that CIA staff who hates Trump is that foreign heads of state will not be calling the President of the USA any more, no matter who sits at the desk.
Why should they, if the CIA will help post their confidential calls on news papers for the world to read. Why would you call if you know every detail will be made known?
And he did it to help his political party.
Good luck to Joe Biden trying to run international diplomacy. He will have to watch congress read their own version of his conversations, embarrassing him and the foreign leader and showing our secret deals to the world.
That’s not good for any one.
1
@AutumnLeaf Who said that he or she hates Trump? Maybe the strong desire to protect the country and our constitution supersedes their personals opinions.
6
@AutumnLeaf Whistleblower#1 brought Mr. Trump's "political dirt for arms" phone call to the attention of the IG who INVESTIGATED and determined that it was a CREDIBLE complaint. Only after the IG FAILED TO NOTIFY the Congressional Oversight Committee did the whistleblower bring the information directly to the attention of that committee. This is NOT a political act on the part of Whistleblower #1.
1
Most of the whistle-blowers who came forth during the Obama Administration ended up being destroyed personally and professionally and many ended up in prison; putting their entire lives on the line to report egregious errors of judgement by the government.
This guy Schiff has hiding in his office cabinet isn't a whistle-blower. We have the full transcript of the call with Ukraine. Since the Democrats are trying to impeach Trump over Russia Collusion in the 2016 election, it's only right to get to the bottom of what collusion actually happened in the 2016 election, which is why Trump was asking Zelensky to cooperate with his attorney general who announced over 6 months ago that he was investigating the origins of the collusion hoax and coup attempt.
Democrats have gone from crazy to insane during this process.
Like the kid who spends 100 hours figuring out how to cheat on an exam vs. just using the time to study...Democrats are spending all their time figuring out how to undo the 2016 election instead of admitting it was their hubris and arrogance that got Trump elected in the first place and perhaps..should be spending more time finding a candidate who can actually compete with Trump in 2020 instead of trying to figuratively assassinate the President of the United States.
The duly elected President..I might add.
3
@Erica Smythe
You stated: "We have the full transcript of the call with Ukraine."
We do NOT have the full transcript of the call. It was a cut-down version that made it completely unbelievable.
Just like Barr's reporing of the Mueller report.
21
@Erica Smythe Andrew Johnson was duly appointed after Lincoln's assassination. However, Richard Nixon was duly elected twice (2nd time in a landslide). Bill Clinton was duly elected twice (these two won both the popular and electoral votes). Did their 'duly elected' status prevent their impeachment investigations and outcomes?
Impeachment is a legal, Constitutional remedy put in place by the Founders, without regard to the status of the President's election.
15
@Erica Smythe Of course Democrats have gone from crazy to insane during this process. Trump does not need help from Democrats to behave as egregiously as he has from his guy then, Manafort, currently serving in prison as you surely must recall, to the current call to the Ukraine to Zelensky over actions from 2016? Or current allegations? While it is impossible to ascribe angelic actions to any person or political party, it is also impossible to view Trump as anything close to innocent from the beginning to now. Tax records? Never seen them. Tax cut? For whom? Climate change? Turn back regulations. Promote coal altho pollutant and mines are closing? Fight for clean coal. Get rid of how many in his circle, his cabinet, put how many in jail? You need to find better sheet music and play something else.
8
"A “duty to report” is rare in American law. Mostly you may simply avert your eyes, keep your mouth shut and suffer no consequence. The rare exceptions concern particularly vulnerable populations like children, which is why teachers, doctors and other caregivers have a legal obligation to report credible evidence of child abuse."
Teachers know this too well. I reported abuse to Child Protective Services twice during my teaching career. It was clear, it was obviously visible, and it was audible - so it was my obligation to report. Now we have clear, visible, and audible reasons to report abuse to a nation and to our allies by the American president. We all could report...but we must leave it to those who can make a difference, those who have immediate and first-hand knowledge of wrong-doing, to do the job they are required to do.
Thanks for this meaningful opinion piece.
10
As a medical professional in Missouri it is my legal responsibility to report child neglect and abuse the the proper authority.
It has been a long standing responsibility and my colleagues take this responsibility very seriously.
There must be a way to expand this responsibility in a meaningful and gradual way perhaps beginning with government.
10
No one cares or respects Whistle-Blowers, no one.
No District Attorney respects Whistle-Blowers.
District Attorneys' first responsibility is to protect the government not the Whistle-Blower.
No one cares about Whistle-Blowers.
No one.
The local and state governments attack Whistle-Blowers to protect themselves.
American citizens have been indoctrinated by the government to believe that the government is not one and the same as described by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence.
Malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance are empty words that mean nothing in fact.
The government has indoctrinated citizens to believe that they are protecting our rights.
1
With Trump, America has reached its nadir. The Laws of the Land are being violated with impunity. Lies permeate our society, hence, in the absence of truth, democracy is being deligitimized.
It follows that a whistle-blower is not only a good public servant who can expose a crime committed at the highest level but also a patriot who fights to uphold our democracy. Snowden is such a patriot. Others rise now and help deliver us from this mad usurper who is wrecking America each and every day. These patriots deserve much credit, for to live in the absence of truth is to abdicate our freedoms and duties; moreover to help dictators destroy the human path to progress.
Putin, Trump, Orban, Erdogan and their ilk must be exposed and expunged. Why?
Humanity has great challenges ahead, such as existential threats like climate crisis. We must battle for our democracy's survival, seek our better angels, overcome hubris, become a more peaceful nation, save the planet. Big words some would say. But. Are there alternatives?
7
As I read in The Onion yesterday, It certainly is a growth industry.
1
It should be required in all public service jobs; "If you see an infraction, breaking of the law or other untowards thing toward the govt entity or citizens, it is a part of your job to report it within 48 hours." How sweet that would be!
4
The public corruption law hasn’t done much to address the deeply embedded corruption at NYPD.
We must never forget what happened to Frank Serpico when he dropped a dime on massive corruption in the police department. He was set up by his fellow police officers and shot in the face.
If New York was serious about tackling the endemic corruption at NYPD they’d be paying Serpico a lot of money to teach at the NYPD academy. Instead of treating him like a pariah they’d be begging him to give the speech at every graduation ceremony of the police academy.
Officials in NYC have a long, long way to go before they get serious about corruption at NYPD.
Some time ago I became aware of a friend who talked his way out of a DWI stop merely by showing the business card of his brother, who is an NYPD detective.
Dealing with corruption at NYPD starts with the little things, like ticketing off duty cops who park illegally and put an NYPD placard in their window so they can drink at the neighborhood bar. Or officers who get a free meal from restaurants.
These are small tokens of corruption but they lead to a mentality that NYPD officers can cheat and steal and subvert our rules and laws, which inevitably leads to attempts at more brazen and lucrative acts of criminality.
Consider all the NYPD officers who have been arrested in the past year or so for running guns, drugs, prostitution, gambling, etc. and those are just the ones who were caught.
We have a long way to go in NYC!
20
I'll vote for that!
Mandated reporting has saved many children and protected even more.
6
With the Advent of Alternative Facts and the Digital Vortex created by the Fake News Fake News...where the Truth is turned into Lies...who can blame Whistleblowers if they keep silent !! They risk their livelihoods to be all too often vilified by a good number of the public. Who would have thought that Trump who was the most divisive bully to ever run for the Presidency would become nominated by the GOP ?? With that kind of support as well as the support Trump gets from his loyal Fox Nation...odds are a whistleblower will be on the receiving end of some pretty steady criticism not praise !! Too many Americans Voted for this and as Mueller found out..more Americans seemed to care about Barr's interpretation of Mueller's Report than Mueller's testimony himself !! Be that as it may as Chuck Todd said to Kelly Ann...Alternative Facts are not...Facts !! Hopefully Public opinion is turning away from the Alternative ...to a Fact based Reality !! What's taking so long ??
7
The problem is that a whistle-blower may report something that they see as wrong but if it doesn't prove to be illegal then they will be deemed either stupid or just pushing a partisan agenda.
There needs to be more training so that when they do blow the whistle it won't be able to slip through the cracks.
3
@BTO
How could that be a problem if it is investigated?
2
There are whistle blowers in Chicago: 40 kindergarteners per class, no nurses, no social workers where if you care for a million children you will have some very mentally ill in the classroom. They are offering less of what they already have. Be sure not to report on things that affect average Americans. Keep it elite. Keep our of DeVos's way.
3
Whistleblowers are the antibodies for our democracy.
They keep the system honest and true.
Whistleblower's accounts and testimony are only the start of an investigative process.
Maybe the investigation will find nothing.
Maybe it will uncover waste, fraud or abuse.
7
Whistle blowing in New York does not = whistle blowing in DC.
2
Put whistles in their Christmas socks.
1
Just as long as they are not cloaked in a democratic smoke screen
1
Please, let the whistleblower come forward who was on the call between Erdogran and Trump before Turkey invaded Syria.
42
Lawyers in every state also have a legal duty -- under the ethical rules enforced by their state supreme courts -- to report illegal activities. However, hypocritically, those same courts disbar lawyers who report corrupt case-fixing judges. Turning the law on its head, the courts protect case-fixing judges and discipline whistleblowing lawyers. Of course, the media, bar associations, and legal scholars all ignore this corrupt protection racket, thereby further encouraging case-fixing by judges.
7
This is an epic battle between the rule of law and it’s polar opposite, rule by dictator.
Whistle blower and conflict of interest disclosure laws are more important now than ever before.
7
Yes, we should have had whistle blowers blow the whistle on the corruption the Bidens were in engaged in in Ukraine and China. Also on the corruption that led to Obama giving the OK for the intelligence community to spy on Hilary's rival with zero evidence. Yes, we need to restore sanity. Thank god we have Trump.
1
Based on the behavior of the Mayor and his wife and cronies this is a policy that is bound to fail.
Unfortunately, the reality is that real ‘whistleblowers’ who confront criminal activity by the state usually have their reputations destroyed, are financially ruined and are sometimes put in jail. People in power- the wealthy and their functionaries in government, courts, etc. will do anything they can to protect their wealth and class status.
See- The ‘Whistleblower’ Probably Isn’t- It’s an insult to real whistleblowers to use the term with the Ukrainegate protagonist. By Matt Taibbi Rolling Stone Oct 6, 2019; Link: www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/whistleblower-ukraine-trump-impeach-cia-spying-895529/
3
Whistle blower?
Are you really a whistle blower when the transcript of the phone call you are 'whistle blowing" on is publicly available?
We don't need him, or her, to tell us about the phone call, we can read the transcript!
4
Except, as history tells us, whitle blowers are not welcomed or protected by the US.
Case in point:
Edward Snowden
Chelsea Manning
How many US government officials hail them as heroes?
Instead, one is exiled, the other imprisoned.
Can we please now drop the double standard?
The only reason why this whistle blower case is being celebrated, is because it’s to take down Trump.
I’ll believe the new worship of whistle blowers once the others are exonerated, and welcomed back into our society.
Anything else is hypocrisy.
4
Excellent Op-Ed. It is simply ridiculous to expect corrupt corporate managers and government officials to police themselves. The whisteblowers are heroes who require protection instead of demonisation.
9
Whistleblowers are antibodies of our democracy.
26
This is indeed a stunningly wonderful policy!
It goes a long way towards providing a background and motivation for real protection of whistleblowers.
I personally have faced the choice of whistleblowing three times. I made the mistake once and will never do it again. In situations that were evil enough, I might consider secret releases of information to the Press or Wikileaks, but not through channels. Punishment for doing the right thing isn't my idea of justice.
People give lip service to admiration for WB but would never hire one nor want to work with a "snitch". There are no real protections for WB, at all, ever. Only downsides. You might get a hypothetical "medal" but a medal doesn't pay a salary nor provide respect from other employees.
If it is known that jail time is the consequence of hiding evidence of corruption, it may get to the point that WB is reluctantly accepted.
6
A book can be written about the value of whistle blowers an encyclopedia can be written on legitimate complaints that have been buried and revealed at later dates. The current administration seems to have a graveyard from the past to present.
1
I'm sure NYC needs more whistleblowers, given the level of corruption in that city. How many government officials did Trump have to pay off to get his real estate projects off the ground?
4
Consider, the number of whistleblowers needed, to describe, as believable witnesses, types, levels and qualities of of random as well as an ongoing culture of corruption, AFTER the FACT, is surely related to such a culture, with its individual and systemic enablers to begin, continue, and even transmute such behaviors into acceptable norms. Values. Ethics. Even into laws. Involving in addition to influential agendaed- stakeholders as well as ordinary folk. choosing to be passively complacent about..., when not complicit with/in...
Whistleblowing, as a process, and its outcomes, represent personal accountability. Choosing to care enough about... Taking a risk, with all of its uncertainties, unpredictabilities, random outcomes in which “control” is a myth.
Whistleblowing, critically needed in an open society to challenge the range of interacting dimensions of a democracy, will not, can not, itself, prevent the toxic, corrosiveness of a culture seeding, spreading, developing and harvesting “unaccountability!
Whistleblowing, as an anchored normativeness-process, and its self-selected “public-health change-agents”-are a living ever-present caveat
to all of US about the choices existing to make a difference that can make a sustainable difference for equitable,sustainable civility amidst enriching diversity of Peoples, and their ranges of individual and systemic needs. A reminder to enable mutual trust. An invitation to experience mutual respect. A metaphoric bridge for mutual help.
The root cause for corruption is greed for money or power which overrides people’s’ moral values and ethics. Many are afraid to come forward because of the consequences they may have to face. Whistle blowers are heroes because they have the guts and ethics to put public well being ahead of their own.
5
I'm an attorney who represents whistleblowers (mostly federal) in DC. Federal regulations require employees to report waste, fraud, and abuse, too. Unfortunately, it can backfire. The Government has taken the position in False Claims Act cases (which reward whistleblowers with a share of any recovery) that because federal employees must disclose wrongdoing, they cannot serve as False Claims Act whistleblowers -- even if their supervisors ignore their reports.
5
Can you profile some of the outcomes to whistleblowers?
Because usually it does not go well for them professionally or personally.
6
@AJ, I have no personal knowledge of the process but I'm willing to guess that life after whistle blowing goes better for those who are least outed publicly but especially within their workplaces. That would create a conundrum for doing follow up.
This is step in the right direction but it could also be seen as a big ol fabrication. Some of these peoples efforts are working and perhaps on the surface there's been no direct connecting retaliation. What the article doesn't explain is that it is highly doubtful that corruption is dwindling in NYC government.
French law requires citizens to render assistance to victims of accidents and others in immediate need of help. In China, people drive around a toddler stranded in a bust intersection because they don't want to get involved. In which direction are we drifting?
9
I applaud this, it turns the wheel of justice closer to doing the right thing by removing stigma and making it duty. As a Registered Nurse I was derelict in duty if I did not follow up on any possible domestic or child abuse. It's time we protect those who do the right thing instead of maligning them.
33
In addition to strengthening whistle blower laws, Federal and State government agencies should scale back the use of contractors and increase Federal and State employee hiring.
Contractors have little reason to have allegiance or loyalty to the agencies they serve, nor as whistle-blowers even if they do suspect, observe, or even witness misconduct.
28
@Elizabeth I agree. Edward Snowden was the employee of a government contractor, not a federal employee.
Edward Snowden was not a whistleblower.
Snowden dumped truckloads of highly classified data into the public domain.
That's not whistleblowing it is subversion and treason.
4
@Richard
...and at the end we were not worth of his "subversion and treason"?
An actual working system spells hope for those of us, hopefully a large silent majority ( vs the cult of trump) who have a sense of right and wrong all political leanings aside
Those with something to hide fear the sunshine
Let’s strengthen the dun in Albany and DC
8
Meanwhile the Manhattan DA looks the other way when brave women come forward with credible claims of sexual abuse from the rich and powerful in exchange for campaign contributions. The DA also declined to charge Mayor DeBlasio for soliciting campaign contributions that appeared to violate the intent and spirit of the law.
4
@Concerned The DA also has an ethical obligation not to prosecute a case unless he or she believes that the case can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
2
In the case against Mayor DeBlasio, ethics had nothing to with it. Per the Manhattan DA, DeBlasio was relying on the advice of his attorney concerning campaign contributions, an apparent and curious loophole in the law.
The problem is, in this current climate, allegations seem to be enough to prove guilt or wrongdoing without due process. Whistleblowers are needed to report actual corruption not to advance partisan agendas. There should be stiff penalties for whistleblowers who blow whistles out of political animus rather than for stopping actual corruption.
4
I find it ironic that Mr. Bharara authored this anti-corruption piece. When I discovered in my litigation that, in order to decide cases the way they want to, rather than the way they have to, federal judges feel free to replace in their decisions parties' argument with the bogus argument of judges' own concoction, and sued those judges for fraud, the counter-argument from the DAs who defended those judges was that, in Pierson v. Ray, judges gave themselves the right to act from the bench "maliciously and corruptly." One of those DAs was Mr. Bharara (In Tsitrin v. Jacobs, Katzmann and Livingston). How can one oppose corruption while defending it in judges in beyond me...
3
I think it is ironic that there are so many people who want to turn more aspects of our lives over to the government to run yet there is this huge concern and need to have whistle-blowers to tell on all the corruption that exists in government. Given the government's monitoring of private industry (not saying it is great but that is one of the roles government has already) seems like we are living with a "do as I say not as I do" world when it comes to how the government conducts itself.
So why do I want more intrusion in my life by corrupt institutions who answer to no independent third party and have proven to be inefficient time and time again and wasteful of our tax dollars?
2
@DC -- This comes from a reader with no skin in this game. " It doesn't touch me, so it's not important. And, I don't feel like supervising my rights and freedoms." We need more government, to serve our huge population. Make it democratic, but keep an eye on it.
15
Earlier this year I served on a special grand jury for New York county. The experience gave me a close up look at the vital work that the DOI does and the importance and courage of whistle-blowers.
It often takes guts to do the right thing, especially when recriminations can be harsh, and in rare cases even deadly.
43
https://casetext.com/case/fox-v-town-of-framingham
Yes, we need more government whistle blowers. However, those who do report corruption face profound and life altering consequences. Retaliation, loss of employment, being ostracized by colleagues, and isolation are just a few. Whistleblower protection needs to be strengthened. The legal threshold to prove ‘constructive discharge’ is high, and a government employees right to free speech is limited when speaking on a matter of public concern. I exposed the wrongfulness of the school administrators and police in the attached case because it was my duty to do so-morally, ethically and personally. I paid a price. Loss of a career, loss of friendships, and, although what I did was necessary and ‘the right thing to do’ I’ve lost any opportunity to work again in my profession as my former employer, Framingham High School (MA) refused for years to write a favorable recommendation despite a spotless and respected ten career as the high school Clinical Social Worker. Speaking out against corruption comes with a heavy price, but I do sleep well knowing I acted with courage and did what I could to protect students.
63
@Kevin Fox
Dear Sir,
Picture this: A small town in northern WI doing well with the added benefit of funds from the Air Force radar targeting program unknown to all by the privy.
Too many cancer cases reported, the paper mill takes the blame. and closes, nearly all employed in town lose their jobs. A sudden benefactor gives lifetime assets to the town, a new business, Triumph Twist Drill employs all former paper mill, after 20 years, the mill reopens, a new hospital is built with the benefactor's final bequest, sans cancer ward.
The country opens a gambling/resort casino, life resumes with additional state police to control the expected evils of gambling.
Following in the footsteps of planned state support, the local police acquire assets outside the protected elite tossing out families with desirable assets but without community protection. My family.
The social worker I saw plowed my childhood for usable tidbits and found what she needed to remove my family under coercive hypnosis. The cops got a property we bought and built a blueprinted house on for our family. They and subsequent cop communities did everything they could to create a straw person to burn down removing the problem. I walked everywhere, did without community or friendship, and 25 years later was hit by a truck in a free-lit crosswalk. I came to in the ER and I remember telling them that I would rather be dead than used again.
I lost everything, if you can call this theft loss.
3
@Kevin Fox
Thank you for your courage and integrity.
2
Indeed we need more Government Whistle-Blowers to protect America, our Constitution, American, and everyone in the world, and Planet Earth. Thank you very much to the women and men and their families and friends and colleagues for their bravery and for putting Country and the US Constitution first. God save America.
24
It is sad that we have awaken to the importance of whistle blowers as government watch dogs only now that impeachment hearings are going on.
We have had whistle blowers over the years and have either ignored them or gone along with the governments persecution of them.
Chelsea Manning exposed American war crimes in Iraq and she was striped and thrown naked into solitary confinement and eventually sentenced to a long prison term.
Julian Assange is a publisher who had the courage to expose government corruption both here and in other nations, including Russia.
His reward? Seven years holded up in the Ecuadorian embassy and solitary confinement as he waits trail in the US for doing what the WaPost did with the Pentagon papers.
Ed Snowden risked his life to protect our freedom. He's living in forced exile.
We cannot continue to apply the Whistleblower Protection Act selectively. And we cannot fool ourselves into thinking that internal procedures are always adequate to address government wrong doing.
The reason we have whistle blowers is because those systems fail. Exposing the truth will always anger some and the powerful have many ways to exact their revenge.
The role of whistleblowers is crucial to a democracy and we need to amend the current law to insure that the vicious persecutions that occurred under the Obama administration never happen again, especially under this administration.
8
@Drspock so the examples you cite, they did not go through the whistle blower protocol. If they had they would not be on the run. As for julian he is just a russian puppet he refused to leak what he had on russia in 2016.
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@oscar jr
The so-called "whistle blower protocol" you mention would have led these particular whistleblowers - Snowden and Manning - directly to the superiors who were engaged in the corruption. How do you think that would've turned out?
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@Charles
You are incorrect. The protocol is to engage the inspector general office of the department in which you see the wrong-doing, not to your immediate 'superiors', and definitely not to the press as Manning and Snowden did.
Every departments inspector general is an independent office tasked with this exact type of duty.
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Mandated reporting of serious wrongdoing by government officials, while working in NYC, currently poses an entirely different risk on the federal level. With Trump and his abettors (particularly Barr) threatening the safety of whistle blowers and declaring due process is hindered, coming forward must come with unchallenged legal rights. When the most powerful office holder in the world, his DOJ and propaganda "news" channel put your very life at risk, we'll need more than assurances you've met your mandate to report.
We're living through a moment where the unthinkable happens on a daily basis. Let's laud and encourage whistle blowers, but let's make it a crime to inspire the type of public rage that may very well lead to loss of freedom or life.
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Not just 'Government' whistle blowers. CNN just had their own 'Whistle Blower' reveal important details about that networks bias. Cannot have them being Anonymous though. Either they have the courage to be identified, or they shouldn't be heard beyond the initial complaint stage. Cannot put another person in jeopardy and not allow them to confront their accuser. That is a bedrock principle of Western Civilization.
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Greg,
Confronting your accuser is a legal principal that takes place at trial, not in the investigation and charging stage. Grand juries are convened in secret, have been for hundreds of years, and indictments later unsealed in open court. This can occur prior to an arrest of a suspect. Grand jury conduct and transcripts are always reviewed by a judge and later made available to the defense. Our system empowers prosecutors to make initial determinations about conduct that is unlawful but this power is checked, both by the judiciary and the citizens who serve on grand juries and trial juries.
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Whistle blowers are invaluable, not only for ferreting out corruption, but also unveiling harassment and other injustices in offices, governments and schools. We all deserve a culture where whistle blowers have safe reporting places (independent of their superiors) and their comments are taken seriously. What is wrong is publicly voicing a whistle blower report before determining its accuracy. Premature reporting to the public places both sides at risk. At the same time a culture must be cultivated where, like in NY, all consider the larger mission of fairness before themselves so that whistle blowing is always the correct response. This is a cultural tenet many in our national government lack.
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@GregP
I disagree that the Whistleblower name should be made public. Between the wrath of social media and the probable danger that revealing the name of a whistleblower can be to both the Whistleblowers family.
Remember what happened to Christine Blasey=Ford when she came forward publicly.
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For the most part I agree - the issue is, who decides on the definition of “wrongdoing.” Being offered a bribe is obviously corrupt. Gaining insight to classified documents/conversations and reporting their details? It gets fuzzy. Whistleblowing shouldn’t be made “easier” for the sake of allowing more of it: in difficult cases, it takes a lot of self-confidence that one’s moral compass is aligned with the common good, something that isn’t always true and that could actually undermine a purposeful, good plan. And then there’s the abuse: do we really want more Wikileaks?
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@Coffee Boy The process should not put the onus for determining wrongdoing on the whistleblower. The determination should be part of an investigation.
Some investigations will be closed because of no actual illegal/unethical conduct or for insufficient evidence.
The employees often lack the training/experience needed to make that determination.
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@Marc Correct - there should be more support for whistleblowers, and in cases like the ones presented in the article, that support is helpful and productive. But imagine the CIA, the NSA, the FBI, the Pentagon...who’s going to investigate them? Who could Snowden have gone to? If internal, it’d be slow, biased, red-taped, and probably ineffective. If external, would these organizations really reveal what’s going on within them?
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