National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
Advisory-
August 25, 2006
Contact: Sibel Edmonds, National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition, sedmonds@nswbc.org
National Security
Whistleblowers Blogger Conference
Our organizations, the, National Security
Whistleblowers Coalition , Government
Accountability Project, Liberty Coalition, and Project on Government
Oversight, invite you to participate in a blogger conference call on the
lack of credible whistleblower rights and pending legislation
that would address the issue and is nearing a showdown in the defense
authorization bill conference. We are familiar with your blog, and
thought you would be interested in speaking with some of the whistleblowers
that we work with.
National Security
Whistleblowers will be on the call to discuss their own experiences and the
need for enhanced whistleblower protections. From NSWBC the following
whistleblowers will be available to answer questions. FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds; Russell
Tice-Former Intelligence Analyst (NSA); Sandalio Gonzalez- Retired Special
Agent in Charge (DEA); Bogdan Dzakovic- Former Red Team Leader (FAA); Jeff
Black- Federal Air Marshal (FAM-DHS); Steve Elson- Former Red Team Member
(FAA). NSWBC participating whistleblowers’ background information is posted
below. Other whistleblowers from GAP and POGO such as Former head of US Customs
and Immigration Services (USCIS) Mike Maxwell,
Former FBI Agent Mike German, and others will discuss new developments in their
cases.
The call will be on
Wednesday, August 30 at 5:00 p.m. Please RSVP to Adam Miles at the
Government Accountability Project by calling (202) 408-0034, ext 132 or (202)
276-2007 or emailing him at adamm@whistleblower.org to obtain
the call-in number and pass-code for the call.
Sincerely,
Sibel
Edmonds
Director-NSWBC
Tom
Devine
Government
Accountability Project
Michael
Ostrolenk
Liberty
Coalition
Danielle
Brian
Project
On Government Oversight
A little more background on the issue:
It
may sound too good to be true, but a bipartisan coalition in Congress – yes,
the U.S. Congress – has come up with anti-corruption legislation that will
strengthen national security, save billions of tax dollars, and increase
constitutional freedoms rather than threaten them.
The authors of the
legislation recognize that the Boy Scout’s cornerstone creed – “Be Prepared” –
is a better way to fight terrorism than canceling the constitution or spending
billions in pork barrel defense and technology contracts. Specifically,
the bill would give genuine legal rights to the public servants who have been
championing this message since 9/11, but have been ignored, harassed, or
silenced by government agencies more interested in preserving bureaucratic
control and avoiding embarrassment than protecting the nation.
Legislation to combat
waste, fraud, and abuse was adopted unanimously by the Senate in June as an
amendment to the 2007 defense authorization bill. An even stronger
version that extends genuine whistleblower protections to all national security
employees and government contractors was unanimously approved by the House
Government Reform Committee. But Justice Department lawyers – intent on
protecting their nearly unblemished record defending the bureaucracy in
retaliation cases, and silencing whistleblowers – are fighting against passage
of any whistleblower rights reform in the back rooms of the defense bill
conference.
This is not an issue
that should be decided behind closed doors.
This will be an open
discussion of the issues facing government whistleblowers and the legislative
remedies Congress has endorsed, but the administration is fighting.
NSWBC Whistleblowers’ Background:
Tice, Russ; Former
Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, Air Force, Naval Intelligence, DIA
and NSA
Russ
Tice worked technical intelligence issues as an all-source analyst, systems
instructor, special programs expert, technical missions operations action
officer, tasking agent, field intelligence on-site analyst and liaison, and
advanced capabilities officer. Known as
a stickler for technical detailed analysis and “by the book” on security
regs. After returning from a temporary
overseas assignment in 2001, he observed that a DIA coworker exhibited the
classic signs of involvement in espionage.
After quietly reporting this, his suspicion was quickly dismissed by
DIA’s counterintelligence (CI) office.
He continued to observe activity to suggest there was a problem and
reported such. He returned to the
National Security Agency and, busy with the Iraqi War, dropped the issue. When
noting a report that FBI CI agents availed secrets to a China source for sex,
he questioned the FBI’s competence. NSA
retaliated by having him declared crazy, revoking his security clearance, and
terminating his employment in May 2005.
Edmonds, Sibel; Former
Language Specialist; FBI
Sibel
Edmonds worked as a language specialist for the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
During her work with the bureau, she discovered and reported serious acts of
security breaches, cover-ups, and intentional blocking of intelligence that had
national security implications. After she reported these acts to FBI
management, she was retaliated against by the FBI and ultimately fired in March
2002. Since that time, court proceedings on her issues have been blocked by the
assertion of “State Secret Privilege” by Attorney General Ashcroft; the
Congress of the United States has been gagged and prevented from any discussion
of her case through retroactive re-classification by the Department of Justice.
Ms. Edmonds is fluent in Turkish, Farsi and Azerbaijani; and has a MA in Public
Policy and International Commerce from George Mason University, and a BA in
Criminal Justice and Psychology from George Washington University. PEN American Center awarded Ms.
Edmonds the 2006 PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award for her
"commitment to preserving the free flow of information in the United
States in a time of growing international isolation and increasing government
secrecy".
Gonzalez, Sandalio, Retired Federal
Agent, DEA
Sandy
Gonzalez retired from the DEA as Special Agent in Charge of the El Paso, Texas
Field Division in January 2005 after 32 years in law enforcement. He began his
career in 1972 at the local level in Los Angeles, California and joined the DEA
in 1978. As a Senior Executive Service management official in the DEA, he
reported serious allegations of wrongdoing and cover-ups by federal agents and
prosecutors in both Miami, Florida and El Paso, Texas, and was ignored. He was
also the target of an internal investigation and was involuntarily transferred
and retaliated against by the Department of Justice and the DEA.
Black, P. Jeffrey, Federal Air Marshal (FAMS), TSA/DHS
P. Jeffrey Black is currently a front-line Federal Air Marshal
deterring and preventing terrorist activities and other incidents onboard
commercial aircraft. He is a former Air Force Security Specialist, Naval
Command Criminal Investigator, and Border Patrol Agent. In August 2004, Black
testified before the Chief Counsel of Oversight and Investigations of the House
Judiciary Committee, where he exposed dangerous agency internal policies that
promoted aviation security breaches and conditions that seriously jeopardized
the health and safety of air marshals, flight crews, and airline
passengers. Black also filed numerous complaints with OPR and OIG
exposing systemic abuses of authority, gross mismanagement, and prohibited
personnel practices that were being committed by agency management. As
expected, Black is currently receiving severe and continual retaliation from
his agency in response to his whistleblowing disclosures –– retaliation that
has caused detrimental changes in his official duties, responsibilities, and
working conditions.
Dzakovic,
Bogdan, Former Red Team Leader, FAA
Bogdan
Dzakovic is a former Coast Guard Officer, Federal Criminal Investigator and has
a graduate degree in Security Administration.
He has worked for the Security Division of the Federal Aviation
Administration since 1987 as a Special Agent, as a Team Leader in the Federal
Air Marshals, and from 1995 until September 11, 2001 was a Team Leader of the
Red Team (terrorist team). He tried for
several years prior to the 9-11 attacks to improve aviation security in the
face of the ever-increasing terrorist threat.
This included working through the established chain of command, with the
Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General, with the General
Accountability Office, and with members of both the House and Senate of the
Congress of the United States. He filed
a Whistleblower Case against the Federal Aviation Administration and testified
at the 9-11 Commission.
Elson,
Steve, Veteran Agent, FAA
Steve Elson
has twenty-two years military experience, primarily in Naval Special Warfare.
He has nine years Federal Service with DEA/FAA, and one year with Local Law
Enforcement in Undercover Narcotics.
Mr. Elson specializes in Counterterrorism, Intelligence, and Security,
both nationally and internationally, enhanced by a wide range of training and
advanced studies in diverse topics relating to security, leadership, and
intelligence. He holds a Masters Degree in National Security Affairs/Naval
Intelligence with a focus on Terrorism.
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, founded in August
2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who have
come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses; to inform authorities
of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence agencies, at nuclear power
plants and weapon facilities, in airports, and at our nation’s borders and
ports; to uncover government waste, fraud, abuse, and in some cases criminal
conduct. The NSWBC is dedicated to aiding national security whistleblowers
through a variety of methods, including advocacy of governmental and legal
reform, educating the public concerning whistleblowing activity, provision of
comfort and fellowship to national security whistleblowers suffering
retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest
organizations to affect goals defined in the NSWBC mission statement. For
more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org
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