All Things Whistleblower: A GAP Blog

Heard it all before...

Last October, the Bush administration drastically diluted Congressional CDC testimony that linked climate change and public health concerns. A new CNN article reveals how deeply Vice President Cheney’s office was involved in that censorship of government scientists. Cheney’s office had over half of the planned testimony cut because it drew a strong connection between global warming and human health risks. 

The motivation behind the censorship is obvious. From the CNN article, Cheney intervened because the testimony…

might make it harder [for the administration] to avoid regulating greenhouse gases.   

You see,

The EPA currently is examining whether carbon dioxide, a leading greenhouse gas, poses a danger to public health and welfare. The Supreme Court has said if it does, it must be regulated under the Clean Air Act.

Censoring facts to illicit a preferred outcome? Not a characteristic of good government, but certainly a characteristic of this government. 

The FISA bill & Telecom Immunity – Contact Your Senator

GAP is opposed to the new FISA bill, which would provide retroactive immunity to telecoms that allowed the Bush administration to illegally spy on their customer’s calls and e-mail. GAP client Babak Pasdar was instrumental to defeating such a provision that last time it was up for debate. Unfortunately, amnesty for phone companies has gained new traction in the FISA bill, which is scheduled to be voted on Tuesday. A nifty new tool enables you to directly contact Senators to tell them to vote for the Dodd-Feingold-Leahy amendment (S.A. 5064 to H.R. 6304).

Click on the following link or paste it into your browser: http://firedoglake.com/2008/07/02/blue-america-launches-whip-count-call-tool-on-fisa/

The nifty aspect of this tool is that it will help you phone your Senators AND also provides the ability to track positions on FISA given your input.

-- Jesselyn Radack

Let Them Eat Tomatoes...

As the hunt for salmonella continues, the food industry is getting more and more angry for the $100 million loss in revenue suffered because of the FDA has yet to pinpoint the origination of the outbreak. One grower's association has called for a Congressional investigation into the FDA. From The Wall Street Journal:

The collateral damage inflicted on thousands of innocent producers in this country by FDA blanket 'advisories,' such as with spinach and tomatoes, cannot go unchallenged," said Tom Nassif, the group's president and chief executive, in a written statement.

Industry leaders and consumers are probably even more frustrated with new reports showing that tomatoes may not even be responsible for the outbreak! A growing number of health officials are beginning to suspect that another ingredient commonly found in Mexican food may be to blame for over 800 cases of salmonella in the US from the past month.

According to the Baltimore Sun, the delay in finding the culprit…

…underscores the weaknesses in a government safety net that critics say relies on short-staffed state health departments and turf-conscious federal authorities.

A Congressional investigation may indeed be appropriate.

A Tale of Two Countries

Two big stories covering food safety today illustrate the difference in societal reactions to possibly contaminated food. First, South Koreans continue to protest (daily!) the import of US beef into that country on fears of mad cow disease, since American beef regulatory standards are, to put it mildly, lax. The protests have unfortunately turned violent.

Contrast this with the latest news on the US salmonella outbreak – CDC officials are now saying that tainted product could still be on store shelves, nearly two weeks after first announcing the outbreak. Officials have also announced they may never pinpoint the outbreak’s origin.

It should be clear to American consumers that the FDA has a greatly flawed mechanism for tracing the origin or packaging plant of any supply of produce. But here, we have seen no protests, whereas South Koreans have taken to the streets about a possible sickness – remember, no one has even fallen ill there yet.

Do South Koreans just care more than Americans about food safety?  

Another Example of FBI Retaliation

Two Congressional Democrats and one Republican Senator are calling on the FBI to investigate suspected retaliation against an agent whistleblower who testified before Congress in May. In his testimony, the agent, Mr. Bassam Youssef, discussed FBI staffing shortages and managerial inexperience, and their impact on effective counterterrorism strategy. Just two days after Mr. Youssef testified, he was anonymously accused of violating various FBI rules and regulations. In a letter to FBI Assistant Director of Public Affairs John Miller, the lawmakers expressed support for Mr. Youssef. From the Washington Times:

"Youssef courageously provided information to the subcommittee about deficiencies in the FBI´s counterterrorism programs, despite his awareness of the FBI´s tendency to retaliate against those who speak out about problems in the FBI," the lawmakers said in the letter to Mr. Mueller. 

Big Pharma's Lobbying Increase

A new report reveals a huge increase in Big Pharma’s lobbyist spending after the Democrats took Congress in 2006, which unfortunately seems to be paying off. The industry has won several major concessions from Congress, including blocking new advertising restrictions and renewing two bills that speed up the FDA approval process. This is particularly troubling at a time when Big Pharma is increasingly criticized for irresponsible business practices. From the Wall Street Journal:

The industry's support for limiting drug imports comes at a time when it is coming under attack over safety issues for its foreign outsourcing of drug manufacturing as well as for its own imports from other countries such as China.

Like Heparin, which resulted in scores of American deaths and hundreds of illnesses. Now more than ever we need responsible drug safety oversight, and Congressional Democrats need to keep their priorities in order.

Dangerous Decision

Last week, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (EQC) made a decision to continue the incineration of a Cold War-era stockpile of poisonous chemical agent at the Umatilla Chemical Depot. The decision to accept a plan of action from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was reached despite the plan’s admitted evidence that the incineration process elevates the cancer risk to surrounding communities above acceptable state standards.

GAP has been involved in this case for some time, suing the DEQ and EQC to halt the incineration of mustard agent back in November. We also helped spread the word about a less-than-transparent meeting between government officials about this problem in January.

The EQC missed a real opportunity to protect the community and to destroy chemical agents in a responsible way, considering alternative methods are available that greatly reduce environmental risk.

We’ll see what happens next, there are still public meetings to be held in the next month regarding the burning before it starts up again.

-- Dylan Blaylock

A Bad Plan

Yesterday John McCain announced his ill-advised and dangerous idea for increasing American energy independence by opening 45 new nuclear reactor energy plants over the next 22 years.

Nuclear energy poses incredible risks to the communities that house them – everything from radioactive material seeping into the ground, to contaminating water sources, to widespread and devastating human health concerns. McCain’s plan seems to be not fully thought-out when dealing with the really serious problems facing it. When questioned about disposing with nuclear waste, he clearly had no strategy, saying only (from the AP):

We will need to solve complex problems of moving and storing materials that will always need safeguarding.

He also failed to address the huge price tag of the new plants. Critics are quick to point out the probable need for major subsidies for these plants. From the New York Times: 

“Wall Street won’t invest in these plants because they are too expensive and unreliable, so Senator McCain wants to shower the nuclear industry with billions of dollars of taxpayer handouts,” said Daniel J. Weiss, who heads the global warming program at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal research group.

Expensive and dangerous, two adjectives that shouldn’t be associated together with America’s energy plan.

ProHeart 6

ProHeart 6, a heartworm medication for dogs linked to 6,000 canine fatalities was re-released last week, prompting further scrutiny about the questionable relationship between the FDA and pharmaceutical giants like Wyeth, the drug’s maker. FDA veterinarian and GAP client Victoria Hampshire, who discovered the link between the drug and canine deaths, was persecuted by the FDA at Wyeth’s request. From USA Today:

The probe revealed that Wyeth officials had easy, undocumented access to the FDA to lobby for ProHeart 6 and attack Hampshire. FDA managers seemed more interested in placating Wyeth than in dealing fairly with one of its scientists.

FAA Travesties

An eye-opening NPR piece just released recounts flagrant, appalling retaliation against FAA whistleblowers. The article has whistleblowers describe how they were investigated, decertified, even physical assaulted. From NPR:

They did things blatant, they tried to run me off the road…A guy used to knock me down at work all the time. He'd walk by — if nobody was looking, he'd knock me down.

This abuse came from a female employee who reported managerial cover-ups of incidents of planes flying too close to each other. Another whistleblower reported the same type of incident, stating:

I estimate that it was 800 feet or less...It was the closest we had seen two airplanes come together in my career — and everyone else's, too.

That whistleblower also faced “quick and intense” retaliation.