Group chides Congress on whistleblowers

Congress is not doing its job of protecting government whistleblowers, nor investigating the national security weaknesses those employees have tried to expose, several private watchdog groups said Wednesday. They called for hearings into a particular case, that of linguist Sibel Edmonds, fired in 2002 after alleging shoddy work and possible espionage inside the FBI's translator program. "The time has come for Congress to hold hearings and address the concerns raised by Ms. Edmonds," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. "Without congressional oversight, the FBI will continue to hide its failures and quash whistleblowers." Brian spoke at a joint press conference with the American Civili Liberties Union, family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and some dozen whistleblowers who have spoken out about alleged problems at the Federal Aviation Administration, CIA, FBI and customs agency. "The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself from political embarrassment while gambling with our safety," said Ann Beeson, an ACLU legal counsel. She named the firing of whistleblowers, retroactive classification of public information and other actions she said were taken "not to protect us but to cover up mistakes." The Justice Department's inspector general said this month that the FBI never adequately investigated Edmonds' complaints, even though evidence and witnesses supported her. [more]