For Whistleblowers, Journalism and Democracy
By Chip Gibbons – The Intercept
In 2006, St. Louis-based activist and academic Mark Chmiel received a message on his answering machine from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI wanted to talk to Chmiel about trip three years ago that he and other St. Louis activists took with the International Solidarity Movement to the West Bank, in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. When Chmiel’s attorney reached out to the FBI, they did not respond.
By Mark Rumold – EFF.org
COVID-19 has trapped many of us in our homes, isolating us from family and friends and limiting our movements. But there are few people who feel the isolating impacts of COVID-19 more acutely than those who are actually incarcerated in jails and prisons across the country. As Jerry Metcalf, an inmate in Michigan, wrote for the Marshall Project’s “Life on the Inside” series:
A Guide to Whistleblowing for Federal Employees, Contractors, and Grantees
By Government Accountability Project
The job of government to serve the public’s interests depends on the commitment and effort of millions of federal employees, contractors, and grantees around the world. Those same workers are in the best position to learn when decisions and actions deviate from the core mission and responsibilities of government, be it through corruption, failing to comply with laws and regulations, wasting taxpayer money, or jeopardizing public health and safety.
By Jeffrey Sterling
In 2015 I was wrongfully convicted of, and imprisoned for, violating the U.S. Espionage Act. Now, while there is no question that I stand in solidarity with WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange in a British court as he fights extradition, little did I know that my presence is also there as fodder to support extradition. If I am going to be used in such a way, there should at least be a modicum of truth to my inclusion. I found nothing reasonable about being persecuted and sentenced to prison under the Espionage Act.
Given that Manning still faces a $256,000 fine for refusing to testify about WikiLeaks to a grand jury, said one reporter, “she will now struggle with destitution and poverty, but at least she will no longer be in a jail cell.”
By Jessica Corbett – Common Dreams
By Peter Kornbluh – The Washington Post
The revelation that the CIA secretly co-owned the world’s leading manufacturer of encryption machines, and rigged those devices to conduct espionage on more than 100 nations that purchased them for more than half a century, has generated a number of historical and ethical questions: What did U.S. officials know, and when did they know it, about key episodes in recent world history? How did U.S. policymakers act on the intelligence that was gathered? Did U.S. officials have an obligation, as The Washington Post’s Greg Miller put it, to “expose or stop human rights violations unfolding in their view”? Should the United States have been spying on friends and foes alike?
Committee to Protect Journalists
Washington, D.C., February 21, 2020 — The United Kingdom should not extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges in the United States, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
By Parker Higgins – Freedom of the Press Foundation
In an open letter today, more than 40 press freedom and civil liberties groups strongly condemned the “cybercrime” charges against Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald and demanded that Brazilian authorities renounce them immediately.
By Chip Gibbons — Defending Rights & Dissent
Throughout its history, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has used its expansive powers to investigate, monitor, and surveil First Amendment-protected activity. As early as 1924, public concern about the FBI’s violation of First Amendment rights and other civil liberties spurred official attempts to check the FBI’s power. This report covers FBI surveillance of political activity over roughly the past decade.
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
CIA Whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling persecuted for exposing discrimination, danger
By The Grayzone – Pushback with Aaron Maté
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling is a double whistleblower: as an African-American, he challenged racism from superior officers; he also voiced concerns about a deeply flawed CIA effort to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program. The U.S. government retaliated by accusing him, without evidence, of leaking classified information. Sterling joins Pushback to discuss his ordeal.