National Security Whistleblowers

National Security Whistleblowers

National Security Whistleblowers

Sibel Edmonds
A former FBI language specialist, Edmonds was fired after reporting shoddy translation work, questionable management practices and an employee’s troubling relationship with a group under FBI surveillance. More about her story.

Mick Andersen
Andersen was a senior Justice Department policy analyst with top-secret security clearance until he blew the whistle on classified documents that had been leaked. The department denied his security clearance existed and later declined to renew his contract, despite excellent past performance.

Teresa Chambers
The former U.S. Park Police Chief was fired after expressing concerns in the media about her agency’s budget and how, if under-funded, the cuts could affect national parks and landmarks.

Bogdan Dzakovic
As a senior member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Red Team pre-9-11, Dzakovic frequently found inadequate airport security systems in undercover tests. The FAA told Dzakovic not to report what he found. After 9-11, Dzakovic exposed the long-term failure of airport security and was reassigned to menial tasks for his efforts.

Darlene Fitzgerald-Catalan
A former federal agent with the U.S. Customs Service with more than 20 years law enforcement experience, Fitzgerald-Catalan was forced out of the agency when she blew the whistle on high-level corruption within the service, including failure to act against narcotic smuggling operations.

Mike German
A 16-year FBI veteran agent, German quit in frustration in 2004 after being retaliated against for blowing the whistle on the agency’s mistakes and corruption in a domestic terrorism case.

Mark Graf
A top-level senior staffer at the Department of Energy’s Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility, Graf was retaliated against after blowing the whistle on serious security risks at the facility that were ignored when he reported them to his superiors.

Mark Hall
An Immigration and Naturalization Service border patrol agent, Hall was retaliated against post 9-11 when he blew the whistle on substandard security along the Canadian border. He was later returned to his former position after the Office of Special Counsel said INS violated the Whistleblower Protection Act.

Diane Kleiman
Kleiman, who worked at the Federal Customs Agency at JFK Airport in New York, was fired after reporting corruption including alleged drug overdoses among employees, cash missing from seizures and security lapses at a major airline.

David Lappa
A veteran employee at the University of California’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lappa was subjected to fierce retaliation after blowing the whistle on safety concerns at the lab’s plutonium facility. After a hard-fought lawsuit, Lappa received a settlement for his struggles.

Dr. Peter Leitner
A top-level advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Leitner was retaliated against after blowing the whistle on exports to China that could be used to bolster the country’s military operations.

Richard Levernier
As a veteran Department of Energy employee two weeks away from retirement, Levernier blew the whistle on security problems at the nuclear weapons facilities it was his job to inspect. He was retaliated against but his work led to a major security overhaul of U.S. nuclear weapons facilities.

Linda Lewis
Lewis, an emergency planning expert for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, was retaliated against and placed on administrative leave after reporting potential problems with the agency’s preparedness for nuclear, chemical or biological attacks on the nation’s food supply.

Ed McCallum
A former Special Forces Colonel, McCallum was placed on administrative leave and investigated after he reported security problems at the Department of Energy’s nuclear sites to the president.

Ray McGovern
A 27-year veteran CIA analyst , McGovern has blown the whistle on corruption and politicization within the agency that lead to insufficient and false intelligence claims.

Sandy Nunn
Nunn, a U.S. Customs Service Agent, was retaliated against and eventually forced out of her job after authoring a study that criticized the enforcement of regulations for importing commercial goods, lapses that could make it easier to smuggle weapons of mass destruction into the country.

David Ridenour
Ridenour, a former Director of the Safeguard and Security Division of the Department of Energy’s Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility, was harassed and later quit in frustration after being repeatedly told by his supervisor not to interfere with the contractor’s work.

Coleen Rowley
Rowley, an FBI special agent, publicly criticized the agency for its handling of the 9-11 terrorist attacks and exposed problems in the FBI in a highly publicized letter to former director Robert Mueller. She was not fired, but her authority in the FBI was reduced. Watch her speech from the 2004 ACLU Membership Conference.

Chris Steele
Steele, a Department of Energy manager in charge of nuclear safety, was stripped of his duties and reassigned to work at his home when he blew the whistle on terrorism-related security concerns at the Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear weapons complex where he worked.

Ron Timm
Timm, a private security analyst, lost his contract with the Department of Energy after reporting problems with public health and safety at DOE facilities. His company, RETA Security, had been under contract with the department for 17 years.

Jane Turner
After twenty-five years of service as an FBI special agent, Turner was constructively discharged after submitting to FBI management evidence of malfeasance and criminal activity of fellow FBI agents, as well as evidence on the theft of artifacts from Ground Zero after the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Glenn Walp and Steve Doran
Walp and Doran, security agents at the University of California’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, were fired when they uncovered that more than 200 lab computers were missing. They also exposed lab corruption in which employees were stealing millions of dollars.

Dr. Frederic Whitehurst
Whitehurst, a top FBI expert on explosives, was retaliated against when he blew the whistle on scientific misconduct within the FBI in major cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the World Trade Center bombing.

Robert Wright
Wright, an FBI special agent, blew the whistle on incompetence within the FBI after 9-11 and was the target of four agency investigations because of his efforts. Several senators intervened but the FBI is still preventing Wright from publishing his manuscript on agency failures.

Mathew Zipoli and Charles Quinones
Zipoli and Quinones were security officers and members of a special response team at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, which stores 880 pounds of plutonium, until they were fired in 2001 after blowing the whistle on security concerns that could jeopardize public safety.