The White House announced Tuesday that President Obama has commuted whistleblower Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence, allowing her to be released from Fort Leavenworth on May 17, 2017. Manning’s sentence, wrote the New York Times, was “the longest ever handed down in…
Author: Linda Lewis
Intelligence officials leak surprise decision in whistleblower case
The Project on Government Oversight reports that a three-person panel authorized by Obama’s Presidential Policy Directive 19 concluded last May that the National Security Agency’s inspector general retaliated against a whistleblower. Based on that information, Director Michael Rogers sent IG…
Oliver Stone’s “Snowden,” a bridge for the national divide
With the political campaign season over, now is a good time to see (or see again) “Snowden,” Oliver Stone’s powerful film about a whistleblower disclosure that rocked the world. Information provided in the film is essential to understanding issues likely…
Congress awaits TSA explanation for whistleblower’s treatment
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform wants an explanation from the Transportation Security Agency for its treatment of Robert MacLean, whose disclosure foiled TSA plans to pull air marshals off long distance commercial flights after the 9/11…
A special kind of courage: publishing the Pentagon Papers
Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential,…
Julian Assange “arbitrarily detained” by UK and Sweden a UN panel concludes
The United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) today released an opinion that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange “was arbitrarily detained by the Governments of Sweden and the United Kingdom” and is therefore”entitled to his freedom of movement and to…
Thirty years after NASA disaster, whistleblower’s identity revealed
Thirty years ago today, the space shuttle Challenger exploded less than 2 minutes after lift-off, killing all seven astronauts on board. A fe months later, two engineers talked about the disaster to National Public Radio on condition of anonymity, They…
A Christmas movie for whistleblowers
For the whistleblower in search of Christmas entertainment, look no further than the 1947 film classic, “Miracle on 34th Street.” The plot is a classic whistleblowing situation: A principled employee observes unethical and possibly illegal conduct and is subjected to…
Gaps confirmed in protections for national security whistleblowers
Washington, D.C. — According to a new report, workers in national security positions remain vulnerable to reprisal under current federal laws. The PEN America report, Secret Sources: Whistleblowers, National Security, and Free Expression, refutes allegations by current and former government…
NYPD whistleblower settles claim against hospital
A New York City police officer has settled his complaint against a hospital that held him against his will in a psychiatric ward. The officer, Adrian Schoolcraft, claimed bosses ordered him arrested on and hospitalized in retaliation for his whistleblowing…