For Whistleblowers, Journalism and Democracy
PEER.org
For nearly 30 years, Eveline (Evi) Emmenegger has been a microbiologist, working for the U.S. Geological Survey, mainly in its Seattle-based Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC). For more than a decade, she managed its highest biosafety level containment laboratory studying aquatic pathogens.
Defending Rights & Dissent
On March 31, Daniel Hale, a drone whistleblower, pled guilty to one count of violating the Espionage Act. Hale admitted in court that he gave to an investigative reporter documents detailing human rights abuses pertaining to the US’s troubling assassination program. Although this information was in the public interest, the government nonetheless indicted Hale under the Espionage Act.
An interview with Jeffrey Sterling: Jacobin Magazine
Interview by Mohamed Elmaazi
Jeffrey Sterling is a former CIA officer, whistleblower, and graduate of Washington University Law School. After he had filed a discrimination lawsuit against the CIA, Sterling was controversially tried and convicted in 2015 under the 1917 Espionage Act in the Eastern District of Virginia. This same act is now being used to target publisher and journalist Julian Assange. Should the WikiLeaks founder be extradited to the United States, he, too, would face trial in this same district.
By Jeremy Kuzmarov – CovertActionMagazine.com
April 9, 2021
Hale’s case reflects the twisted morality and corruption of the legal system in an imperialist nation.
In our upside-down world, good guys often go to jail, and bad guys get promoted and live luxuriously.
By Jeffrey Sterling
Though the assault on the Capitol was over two months ago, I continue to be haunted by not only what I saw in the news reports, but also in the overall meaning that was on stage for the world to see. Much more than a horrible insurrection and assault on democracy, what I saw, and have been continually reminded of, was that what happened on that fateful day was America, the usual.
By Richard Eskow | Common Dreams | March 4, 2021
Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper recently lamented the rise of domestic extremism in the Washington Post. “We pride ourselves on the institutions that have evolved over hundreds of years,” Clapper said, adding that “legal institutions, the rule of law, protection of citizens’ liberty, privacy” were “under assault.”
March 2, 2021 – Government Accountability Project – International Bar Association (pdf)
A new report, Are Whistleblowing Laws Working? A Global Study of Whistleblower Protection Litigation, tracks the records of whistleblower laws in 38 countries and provides an unprecedented effort to understand the successes and shortcomings of whistleblower protection legislation worldwide, following a proliferation of laws in recent decades. Co-published by Government Accountability Project and the International Bar Association (IBA) Legal Policy & Research Unit (LPRU), the report aims to support legislators, policy-makers and regulators in designing and developing normative, institutional and judicial frameworks that effectively protect whistleblowers in law – and in reality.
February 8, 2021
Acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson:
We, the undersigned press freedom, civil liberties, and international human rights advocacy organizations, write today to share our profound concern about the ongoing criminal and extradition proceedings relating to Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, under the Espionage Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
January 18, 2021 by Dave Lindorff: This Can’t Be Happening
The incoming Biden administration is considering breaking with a long-standing tradition of new presidents sharing national secrets with prior presidents. Instead, in the case of his future predecessor Trump, Biden says he wants to hear the advice of key national security figures in the new government regarding whether or not to brief the impeached ex-chief executive once he’s out the White House door.
Launched by the Institute for Public Accuracy in June 2014, ExposeFacts.org represents a new approach for encouraging whistleblowers to disclose information that citizens need in order to make truly informed decisions in a democracy. From the outset, our message is clear: “Whistleblowers Welcome at ExposeFacts.org.”
ExposeFacts aims to shed light on concealed activities that are relevant to human rights, corporate malfeasance, the environment, civil liberties and war. At a time when key provisions of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments are under assault, we are standing up for a free press, privacy, transparency and due process as we seek to reveal official information—whether governmental or corporate—that the public has a right to know. More information
First Amendment Groups Press Supreme Court For Access To Surveillance Court Opinions
By Nina Totenberg : NPR.org
First Amendment groups are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make public major decisions authorizing government surveillance, opinions that until now have remained almost secret.