From: believer@telepath.com Subject: IP: Former FBI Workers File Whistleblower Suit Date: Tue, 20 Oct 1998 09:40:46 -0500 To: believer@telepath.com Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/1998-10/20/021r-102098-idx.html Former FBI Workers File Whistleblower Suit Three Say Legal Protections Not Enforced By Michael Grunwald Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, October 20, 1998; Page A17 Three former FBI employees sued the federal government yesterday, alleging that President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno have failed to enforce a 1989 law that protects whistleblowers who complain about misconduct at the agency. Former FBI agent Thomas M. Chamberlin, former FBI chemist Jorge L. Villanueva and former FBI staffer Cheryl J. Whitehurst all allege that they were fired or forced out of the bureau for reporting misconduct by their colleagues. Whitehurst also contends she was harassed because she is married to Frederic Whitehurst, a chemist whose allegations launched a major investigation of the FBI laboratory. Congress exempted the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency from the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, which established a government-wide Office of Special Counsel to investigate complaints of retaliation against employees of most federal agencies. But a companion law directed the president to set up a separate system to protect FBI employees from reprisals, and in April 1997, after a lawsuit by Frederic Whitehurst, Clinton issued a memorandum directing Reno to create it. Justice Department officials are drafting new regulations that would establish an office at the department to handle internal complaints about the FBI. But after 18 months of work, the regulations are not ready. "This is not a simple process, but the attorney general is taking it very seriously," said Justice Department spokesman Bert Brandenburg. "When we're done with this, there will be a structure that FBI whistleblowers can turn to with confidence. . . . We're trying to set up something entirely new here. It's not just add water and mix." Brandenburg said the department expects to issue new regulations soon, but said he could not be more specific. But David K. Colapinto, an attorney for the three former FBI employees, said the government has been promising those regulations for nine years. "They keep telling us it's in the works, but they never produce any results," Colapinto said. "Without whistleblower protection for FBI employees, there cannot be effective oversight of the FBI's activities." The FBI declined comment, referring questions to Brandenburg. According to recent testimony by Justice Department inspector general Michael Bromwich, the FBI received 499 allegations of "serious misconduct" from its employees last year and another 518 allegations of "routine misconduct." But since the employees who made them were not covered by the Whistleblower Protection Act, they had no guarantee that they could appear before an administrative law judge if they believed they were victims of retaliation, or that they would have access to documents about their case during the discovery process. Frederic Whitehurst, once the FBI's top expert in explosives residue analysis, recently settled his own whistleblower lawsuit with the bureau for about $1.65 million. Bromwich's massive investigation did not substantiate all of Whitehurst's allegations, but it did reveal major shortcomings at the FBI lab. Cheryl Whitehurst said she was retaliated against for her husband's activities and for reporting the widespread use of bootlegged software on FBI computers in violation of copyright laws. She said she quit her job under duress last month. Villanueva, who also worked in the laboratory, said he lost his job in January because he refused to sign a petition supporting a supervisor who had been criticized in Bromwich's report, and because he complained that a colleague had forged a signature on a lab report. Chamberlin said he was fired in 1994 after he gave confidential testimony about wiretap violations by the FBI's Detroit field office, and then complained that the subsequent FBI investigation of the alleged violations had targeted him. © Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- **************************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address **************************************************** www.telepath.com/believer ****************************************************