Whistleblowers Expose
Security Risks and are fired
ACLU
Contact: media@aclu.org
January 26, 2005
Groups Call for Hearings on the Justice Department's
Handling of Sibel Edmonds' Case
WASHINGTON- An unprecedented group of national security
whistleblowers and family members of 9/11 victims gathered today
to demand that the government stop silencing employees who expose
national security blunders and called on Congress to hold
hearings into the government's actions against
whistleblowers.
"The government is taking extreme steps to shield itself from
political embarrassment while gambling with our safety," said Ann
Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties
Union. "The government has fired whistleblowers, retroactively
classified public information and used special privileges not to
protect us but to cover-up mistakes."
The ACLU is urging the D.C. Court of Appeals to reinstate the
case of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who was fired in
retaliation for whistleblowing. Fourteen 9/11 family member
advocacy groups and public interest organizations filed a
friend-of-the-court brief this month in support of Edmonds. Many
of them joined her today at a news conference in Washington,
along with national security whistleblowers Michael German,
Coleen Rowley, Manny Johnson, Robert Woo, Ray McGovern, Mel
Goodman and Bogdan Dzakovic, among others.
The ACLU and many of the groups signing the brief today called
for Congressional hearings to determine whether the Justice
Department withheld from the lower court its knowledge of an
internal report concluding that Edmonds was fired for her
whistleblowing. The groups are also seeking an investigation into
whether the Justice Department retroactively classified documents
to perpetuate a cover-up in Edmonds' case.
"The issues surrounding the Edmonds case are so significant
that Congress must hold hearings to investigate the
government's actions," said Danielle Brian, Executive
Director of the Project On Government Oversight, a watchdog group
that signed the appeal brief. "As the people's
representatives, Congress has the duty to protect whistleblowers
who seek to uncover and publicize the misuse of government
authority."
Edmonds, a former Middle Eastern language specialist hired by
the FBI shortly after 9/11, was fired in 2002 after repeatedly
reporting serious security breaches and misconduct in the
agency's translation program.
"My case is one of many in which the government has fired
those who uncover weaknesses in our ability to prevent terrorist
attacks," Edmonds said. "If we truly want to protect America, we
must first protect America's national security
whistleblowers."
Edmonds challenged her retaliatory dismissal by filing suit in
federal court. Last July, the district court dismissed her case
when Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the so-called state
secrets privilege. In legal papers, the ACLU has sharply
criticized the government's radical theory that every
aspect of the Edmonds case involves state secrets and therefore
it cannot go forward.
The groups that signed on to the friend-of-the court brief
supporting Edmonds' appeal include 9/11 Families United to
Bankrupt Terrorism, Coalition of 9/11 Families, National Air
Disaster Alliance, September 11th Advocates, and the World Trade
Center United Family Group.
"It is imperative that people aware of government misdeeds and
mistakes feel they can come forward without retaliation," said
Bill Doyle, whose son Joseph was a victim in the 9/11 World Trade
Center attack. "This is about more than employee protections. It
is about national security -- something that directly impacts all
of us and that 9/11 family members know firsthand."
An unclassified summary of the Justice Department's
Inspector General report on Edmonds' termination, released
after two years on January 14, concluded that she was fired for
reporting serious security breaches and misconduct in the
agency's translation program. The report also stated that
the FBI's retaliation "may have the effect of discouraging
others from raising concerns."
The ACLU has announced its willingness to support other
national security whistleblowers and has encouraged others to
come forward. The group has set up a website that includes a
complaint form for whistleblowers who feel they have been
retaliated against for exposing misconduct or corruption, as well
as other documents in the Edmonds case, online at
www.aclu.org/whistleblower.
Oral argument in Edmonds' case is scheduled for April
21, 2005. In addition to Beeson, co-counsel in the case are:
Melissa Goodman and Benjamin Wizner of the national ACLU; Mark S.
Zaid, Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm Krieger
and Zaid; Art Spitzer of the ACLU of the National Capital Area;
and Eric Seiff of New York.
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