FBI punishes whistleblower in Tampa terror case.The FBI badly botched botch tr.v. botched, botch·ing, botch·es 1. To ruin through clumsiness. 2. To make or perform clumsily; bungle. 3. To repair or mend clumsily. n. 1. a terrorism investigation in Florida and then falsified documents to cover up the error and retaliated against an FBI whistleblower who tried to expose the wrongdoing wrong·do·er n. One who does wrong, especially morally or ethically. wrong  do . Those were the findings of a draft report by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General Noun 1. Office of Inspector General - the investigative arm of the Federal Trade CommissionOIG independent agency - an agency of the United States government that is created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments (OIG Noun 1. OIG - the investigative arm of the Federal Trade Commission Office of Inspector General independent agency - an agency of the United States government that is created by an act of Congress and is independent of the executive departments ), according to the New York Times, which obtained a copy of the yet-to-be-released report. The whistleblower is Michael German, a 16-year FBI veteran and undercover operative who was pursuing ties between narcotics trafficking in Florida and the financing of terrorist networks. Mr. German sought protection as a whistleblower in September 2002, after his complaints were repeatedly ignored. He left the FBI in 2004, he alleges, because his superiors retaliated against him by excluding him from assignments he normally would have participated in. Among the findings of the OIG was that someone at the FBI had used correction fluid to alter the dates of FBI forms in an apparent effort to cover up violations of federal wiretap wiretap n. using an electronic device to listen in on telephone lines, which is illegal unless allowed by court order based upon a showing by law enforcement of "probable cause" to believe the communications are part of criminal activities. law. Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa), a critic of the FBI and ardent defender of whistleblowers, said German is "in a long line of FBI whistleblowers who have had their careers derailed because the FBI couldn't tolerate criticism. I look forward to seeing a final report on Mr. German's case, but right now I believe it to be a sad day when someone at the FBI alters records in order to discredit a whistleblower." Unfortunately, retaliation against whistleblowers has been a growing trend, despite federal legislation aimed at protecting them and administration promises to support and encourage whistleblowers. During the Clinton administration, a scorching scorch v. scorched, scorch·ing, scorch·es v.tr. 1. To burn superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of. See Synonyms at burn1. 2. OIG report revealed alarming widespread abuses at the FBI crime laboratory and retaliation against FBI whistleblower Dr. Frederick Whitehurst. That was one of many cases. The Bush administration has been even less friendly toward courageous federal employees who expose negligence, incompetence, malfeasance, and corruption, as witnessed in the cases of Sibel Edmonds, Diane Kleiman, Bogdan Dzakovic, Brian Sullivan, and many other whistleblowers. In fact, President Bush fired courageous Homeland Security Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin for exposing embarrassing corruption inside TSA TSA See tax-sheltered annuity (TSA). and other agencies charged with guarding our national security. |
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