It's gotten so bad for whistleblowers in the Bush era that the federal agency designed to protect them has whistleblowers of its own.

LINK

Gabe Bruno is a 29-year veteran of the Federal Aviation Administration. A dedicated, faithful, and -- in retrospect, he believes -- "naive" public servant, Bruno learned the hard way that blowing the whistle within the federal government is at best, a futile endeavor, and at worst, a career-destroying choice. He agreed to share his story with AlterNet under the safeguards of the Whistleblower Protection Act.

In 1998, Bruno, a field manager at the FAA's Orlando, Fla., Flight Standards District Office, was assigned to oversee safety standards during the merger between Valujet and AirTran, shortly after the former airline suffered a tragic accident that killed all 110 passengers on board. In the aftermath of the Valujet crash, the FAA carried out a 90-day safety review and created a new inspection program for all airlines to comply with. To Bruno's amazement, however, the FAA never applied this new program to AirTran (which had absorbed Valujet) itself. Bruno made numerous attempts to address the problem, but was "actively denied" by the FAA.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, it came to light that over 1,000 FAA-certified mechanics had fraudulently obtained their credentials -- literally buying "A" grades on a paper certification test from a long-time FAA-designated examiner. After the examiner was criminally prosecuted and convicted, Bruno demanded that all mechanics be retested. This time, Bruno required mechanics to demonstrate hands-on skills on real airplanes; 75 percent failed. Yet, in the spring of 2001, Bruno's newly appointed superiors cancelled his re-examination program, offering scant rationale for the decision, and repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to re-install the program.

Fearing a repeat of the 1996 tragedy, he requested a face-to-face meeting with FAA Associate Administrator Nicholas Sabotini. "Instead of taking my concerns seriously and making the necessary changes, he treated me as some sort of disgruntled employee," said Bruno. "Next thing I know, after 26 years of outstanding performance evaluations, I've lost my management job." Bruno, who had spent over half of his career in management, was re-assigned to a lower-level runway safety position. He now works from home, isolated from his colleagues, "where I can voice my concerns but no one can hear me," he said.

After failing to correct the problems "from the inside, like a good soldier," Bruno took his fight to the Office of the Special Counsel (OSC) -- an independent federal agency responsible for aiding and protecting whistleblowers within the government. Initially, there were signs of hope. Elaine Kaplan, the Clinton-appointed special counsel found "substantial likelihood" that Bruno's case had merit and ordered the inspector general (IG) of the Department of Transportation to carry out an investigation. The IG found no wrongdoing within the FAA, despite the fact that Bruno had provided a huge amount of documentary evidence to support his claims.

Kaplan demanded a re-investigation after Bruno provided point-by-point rebuttals to the IG's findings. Again, the IG reported that they had found no problems. "I could tell that the IG was pretty experienced at this, that there were a lot of midnight-oil meetings behind closed doors where people were saying, 'How are we going to respond to this, how are we going to respond to that?'" said Bruno. "None of my documentation changed, but their stories seemed to be evolving as the investigation went on."

But Kaplan remained convinced that Bruno's case was meritorious, ordering yet another investigation. By now, though, it was 2003, and Kaplan's five-year tenure as special counsel had expired. President Bush appointed Scott Bloch -- then deputy director of Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives -- to replace her and, soon after, everything would change.

All of a sudden, no one would take Bruno's calls at the OSC. When the IG's fourth report came back and dismissed Bruno's charges, he once again provided a comprehensive and detailed written rebuttal. Yet, no one at the OSC -- with which he had been closely working for months -- responded to his letters or emails, and his requests to meet Bloch in person were never answered. The OSC closed the case, failing to address Bruno's claims of far-reaching corruption and coverups, and determined that any alleged wrongdoing on the part of the FAA was unintentional. Bruno's first charge -- that the FAA's post-Valujet safety program had not been applied to AirTran -- was completely ignored. And although the OSC asserted that the fraudulently certified engineers should be retested, it made no mention of requiring hands-on examination -- the very core of Bruno's complaint. "Basically, they misrepresented and soft-pedaled on everything that was wrong about the FAA," said Bruno.

The silencing of Gabe Bruno and the whitewashing of FAA corruption is far from an aberration; under the tenure of Scott Bloch, such treatment has become standard practice. According to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), whistleblowers are coming forward in record numbers, yet the number of whistleblowers who have been helped by the OSC has plummeted.

Since Bloch took office, over 1,000 whistleblower complaints -- many leveling serious charges of government corruption and incompetence, including allegations of misconduct within FEMA before the Katrina disaster -- have been summarily dismissed. In the words of Jeff Ruch, executive director of PEER, the OSC has become "a plumber's unit for the Bush administration, plugging leaks, blocking investigations, and discrediting sources."

One of the first orders Bloch gave his staff, according to a former OSC employee, was to not call whistleblowers upon receiving written disclosures of corruption and abuse, In previous years, OSC staffers would directly contact whistleblowers to hear details and discern whether the cases merited further investigation. This part of the process was crucial, explained the former OSC staffer, because many of the whistleblowers had filed their complaints without guidance from attorneys and thus often failed to present information critical to their cases. But Bloch ordered staffers to immediately dismiss any cases deemed ambiguous or lacking in information. "I'd never seen anything like this in my life," said the former staffer. "If he had whistleblowers' interests at heart, he wouldn't be telling his staff not to call whistleblowers back." In fact, according to PEER, Bloch even authorized summer interns who hadn't even completed law school to make the judgment call on whistleblower complaints, almost all of which were rejected.

A further look into Bloch's record at the OSC reveals a bizarre litany of transgressions. As David S. Bernstein reported in the Boston Phoenix ("Bush's House Homophobe"), Bloch outraged gay rights advocates in February of 2004 when he removed any mention of sexual-orientation discrimination law from the OSC's website. Bloch, a devout Catholic with ties to the stridently anti-homosexual Claremont Institute, claimed that homosexuals were not a "protected class," radically reinterpreting a federal policy in place since the Nixon era.

Bloch has stacked the OSC with graduates of Ave Maria, an ultraconservative Catholic law school in Michigan, and signed the former headmaster of his son's Catholic high school to a no-bid consulting contract (a crony hire that flies in the face of the very anti-nepotism laws Bloch is also required to enforce as special counsel, says Ruch). And despite dismissing hundreds of seemingly valid whistleblower complaints, Bloch aggressively defended Richard Sternberg -- a Smithsonian research associate who supposedly faced retaliation for publishing an article in defense of Intelligent Design -- even though the OSC had absolutely no jurisdiction over the matter because Sternberg was not actually a government employee.

Bloch's behavior raised more than a few eyebrows at the OSC. But when staffers began to complain about his abuses to the media and advocacy organizations like PEER, Bloch began to silence and retaliate against whistleblowers from within the OSC itself. First, he issued an officewide gag order. Then, on Jan. 6, 2005, Bloch ordered 12 of the office's hundred-person staff, who were actual or perceived whistleblowers (two of whom were openly gay), to be reassigned to different regional offices. Most were ordered to move to a new office in Detroit. Offering no explanation for the move, Bloch gave staffers weeks to decide whether to uproot their lives, or alternatively, be fired. Ten of the 12 either resigned or were fired.

The former staffer I spoke with was one of these 10. Having entered the OSC under Elaine Kaplan -- an open lesbian who publicly criticized Bloch's homophobic actions -- the staffer now realizes he was "tagged as a dead man" from the beginning by Bloch. The employee, who, like Gabe Bruno, was routinely praised for his excellence on the job, learned that in Bush's universe, only the incompetent and the yes-men are rewarded.

"My division was the most productive for three years in a row. But for me and many of my co-workers it seemed like, because we did a good job and helped the agency to be more effective, we got punished," the former staffer told me. "He hurt so many innocent people who worked there, including young people in their 20s and 30s who did nothing but a fantastic job, and people with families. Sure, we've all got new jobs now, but not all of us are necessarily working jobs that we want to be at. He turned our lives upside down, and many of us have not recovered."

Ruch says the "the ironies run so deep" at the OSC under Bloch that the office has become, in effect, "an irony-free zone." But is Bloch merely a "bad apple," or does the problem lie with the OSC as an institution?

According to Tom Devine of the Government Accountability Project (GAP), Bloch has "disgraced the office, denigrating it to irrelevance," but is far from the worst special counsel he's seen since the OSC was created. It quickly became clear that the OSC, born in the wake of the Watergate scandal in 1979, would never have substantial power to protect whistleblowers. When the first special counsel, Patrick Swygert, made a name for himself by protecting minorities who had been victims of racism within the federal government, Congress slashed the OSC's budget. The office was forced to lay off 90 percent of its employees by 1980, and the message became clear to future special counsels.

Swygert's successors, Alex Kozinski and William O'Connor then turned the office into a "Trojan horse," says Devine, literally sharing disclosures with accused managers, who would in turn engage in retaliatory action and purge whistleblowers from the federal government. In 1989, the Whistleblower Protection Act became law, a measure that was supposed to reform the office, but the OSC remained headed by political appointees who knew that their real role was to make the administration look as good as possible. Clinton's appointee, Kaplan, was the one exception; Ruch and Devine refer to her tenure as the "Golden Years of the OSC," during which several high-profile whistleblowers were protected. Whistleblower advocacy groups urged Bush to extend Kaplan's appointment after her five-year tenure expired. They got Bloch instead.

Having apparently broken almost every law he was appointed by President Bush to enforce -- including retaliating against whistleblowers from inside his own office -- Bloch is your typical Bush thug in charge of a federal agency. This is a pattern of behavior we've seen across the federal government: from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to the Environmental Protection Agency. And like the rest of the Bush bureaucrats, Bloch continues to face little to no repercussions for what he's done. When a Senate committee held an oversight hearing to investigate some of the allegations levied against Bloch last May, Bloch defended his record, arguing that twice as many whistleblower complaints had advanced during the first year of his tenure than under any year of Kaplan's. The former staffer I spoke with explained that Bloch had blatantly fudged these numbers; in fact, the figures only represented one 30-day period, not an entire year, as Bloch had claimed. Requests to interview Bloch for this article were not returned.

In March 2005, the law offices of Lynne Bernabei and Debra Katz, acting on behalf of the dismissed OSC staffers, demanded an investigation by the Council on Integrity and Efficiency. Bloch deliberately stalled the process for months, but finally, in October Bernabei and Katz received a letter confirming that Inspector General Patrick E. McFarland of the Office of Personnel Management would carry out an investigation. Yet, according to Katz, the process remains in limbo and the investigation is going nowhere.

"I think Mr. Bloch has been allowed to act with impunity by the administration," says Katz. "It's not just bureaucratic inertia. It is, in effect, a nod to Bloch that he can continue to operate as he has." It is a safe bet that Bloch will continue his work, unhindered, and that the OSC will remain a "plumbers unit" for the next three years. For the time being, there is little hope for federal whistleblowers.

So what does Tom Devine recommend for those who are considering blowing the whistle at the federal level? "Well," he said with a sigh, "basically we tell them that they've got to out-Machiavelli the Machiavellis. If they simply relied on their legal rights, they'd be engaging in professional suicide. So we've worked to develop the tactics of helping whistleblowers commit the truth and get away with it." Under the current laws, the odds are appalling: Since 1995, the Federal Court of Appeals has ruled against whistleblowers 119 out of 120 times.

Asked if he'd do it all over again, Gabe Bruno said, "It's a hard question because it has been a really rough road for me and my family. Intellectually, no, but emotionally, I had to do it -- I couldn't just sit there with all this information, knowing that this stuff was brewing, and keep my mouth shut. This was about public safety, human lives -- I could not do it. But I would tell someone else in my position, weigh carefully what you're doing, because it is going to disrupt your career at a minimum and destroy it at a maximum. So you better weigh your conscience seriously."

Sam Graham-Felsen is co-author with The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel of the weekly online feature, Sweet Victories.

« AlterNet Home Tools: EMAIL PRINT 14 COMMENTS



Comments Give Us Feedback »
Tools: [Post a new comment] [Login] [Signup] View: Threaded Minimal Flat Flat Unthreaded
A whistleblower against a whistleblower would be the worst case scenario
Posted by: maxpayne on Jan 18, 2006 5:18 AM [Report this comment]

Could you imagine thugs setting up their own "whistleblower" against a true whistleblower?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

» RE: A whistleblower against a whistleblower would be the worst case scenario Posted by: Roverton

Who benefits from this?
Posted by: lb on Jan 18, 2006 5:58 AM [Report this comment]

I understand how the Bush Administration benefits from this kind of behavior. But what is in it for the FAA to interfere with safety measures and get rid of people who are trying to promote airline safety? Corruption? Payoffs? Everytime you pick up a thread in this government, something else unravels.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

So awful
Posted by: sln70 on Jan 18, 2006 6:22 AM [Report this comment]

Sometimes the things that are going on seem so dark, so deranged, so contrary to a 'normal' person's logic that I honestly wonder what could be at the bottom of all of this.

I mean it. What is all this really about? Greed doesn't seem to cut it. Power-mongering doesn't really fit because the motivations are always about causing misery and not personal gain. I don't know what it is.

Pure evil?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

» RE: So awful Posted by: feduphoosier

» RE: So awful Posted by: sln70

» RE: So awful Posted by: Roverton

» RE: So awful Posted by: sln70

This is about tyranny! If you don't like the laws or rules, ignore them!
Posted by: Pepper on Jan 18, 2006 7:00 AM [Report this comment]

Its about petty power. You don't have any power at home so you do it at work. LOL

I worked with bureaucrats and I am telling you when there is no incentive to the common good, you leave it to these people to exercise what they feel like doing at the moment and that could change from day to day depending on either the "mood" their in or the "pressure" they get from above.

These airlines are not managed like most for profit businesses. They do not go down if they are poorly managed, they are rescued by our tax dollars and they then contribute to the politicians to get breaks when they need them and this is one of the methods. Cut costs by hiring cheap untrained labor, solicit support from the White House who then pressures the FAA or someother agency. That is why we have so many accidents.

They hate whistle blowers and consider them disloyal and treat them like traitors. That is why that bill and agency was set up so they wouldn't be subjected to that, but guess who gets to appoint those who run it??? You guessed it, the White House. Surprise, surprise. LOL

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

Where is the roach spray when you need it
Posted by: Desperate4Coffee on Jan 18, 2006 8:06 AM [Report this comment]

Even the string of scandal du-jour won't make a lick of difference until PUBLIC servants are put into posts of authority.

Identify the problem, and fix it before it gets worse. Could retraining the mechanics have cost even a tenth of the bill for a 747 hitting the deck? Too bad many Administrations consider thread too costlly to make the proverbial stitch in time.

My solution? Crank up the arc lamps, open ALL the books and stomp on the roaches as they scramble and squirm when the truth comes out. Time to clean house in a bad way.

Feingold & Fitzgerald for '08!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

It is time to Take Back Our Government, By Force if Necessary
Posted by: rangerjim on Jan 18, 2006 8:42 AM [Report this comment]

With the corruption and incompetence so rampant in the Bush administration, and the government in general, I think it is time for We the People to take up arms and declare all out war on the government and make the entire Administration targets for overthrow. The FAA has no business playing Russian Roulette with people's lives like they have been doing nor does George W. Bush and his gang of thugs to encourage this kind of behaviour in our government or what is supposed to be our government. Let's face it, George W. Bush, in my opinion is a homicidal sociopath who belongs in a padded cell, and NOT the Oval Office. I hope AirTran is a safe carrier as I am booked on it in April. The time to take back our government is now. If that means stringing up our so called leaders, so be it. They have prostituted their offices and lied to the American people time and time again.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

Justice for all
Posted by: afrothetics on Jan 18, 2006 9:02 AM [Report this comment]

When Conrad wrote this line: "If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs," I don't think that he had Bushrats in mind. When the fight over affirmative action and equal employment opportunity started under Reagan, it was difficult for many Americans to see that these laws protected everyone. The Reaganites framed the issues so that African Americans took the heat. Quite frankly, African Americans are a barometer to how well the society is doing. And, it's not doing too well.

Whistle-blowers must be protected and the integrity of the Constitution must be maintained. This requires leadership and that must come from those currently in government. John Conyers is doing his best. Get your congressperson involved with John by writing them and letting them know how critical the issues are as if they should not already know.

Most importantly, Congress must insure that any political hack that served in the Bush administration be brought to justic, their careers reviewed when this despicable administration finds the door.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

I fear it may...
Posted by: NamVeT on Jan 18, 2006 9:19 AM [Report this comment]

be a little to late. Fuckhead georgie halibush and dickhead cheney (caps left off because they don't deserve ANY respect) I think have successfully taken over OUR country! If we have any elections in the future it will be a miracle! I agree with the above post. Time has indeed come for ALL OF US to storm the White House and throw those criminals in jail.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »]

The Whistle Blower of The World: Vanunu
Posted by: eileenflmng on Jan 18, 2006 9:27 AM [Report this comment]

On January 15, 2006 LINK TV made the announcement that they were the only USA media to broadcast an interview with Mordechai Vanunu.

It was reported by LINK TV that the New York Times and CNN both declined to broadcast their recent interviews with Vanunu, who blew the whistle in 1986 regarding Israel's WMD program.

Foreign media is required to obtain the approval of the Israeli Military censors before broadcasting.

WAWA,
http://www.wearewideawake.org
is the only Pro-Bono Public Service website confronting media and governments that shield the whole truth and WAWA is the only media outlet with video of Vanunu not approved by Israeli Military censors.

WAWA's Reporter, Eileen Fleming has never been a paid journalist but is the author of fiction, Op-eds and the WAWA BLOG.

Fleming is also a curious Christian and obtained the five minute video message from Vanunu in June 2005. His message to American Christians is available on WAWA's homepage
http://www.wearewideawake.org

Fleming's in depth interview with Vanunu is available in Chapter 1 of Keep Hope Alive II also available on WAWA's homepage:
http://www.wearewideawake.org

Vanunu a secular Jew and atheist converted to Christianity 20 years ago and only days before he was kidnapped by the Mossad in Rome. This occurred at the same time the London Sunday Times broke his story and published Vanunu's photos documenting the fact that Israel had gone nuclear in 1986.

Vanunu underwent a closed door trial and endured 18 years in jail for treason and espionage. His real crime was for telling the world the truth that Israel had gone nuclear.

Vanunu was released from jail in April 2004. He remains a Christian held captive in Jerusalem under severe restrictions by the Israeli government that controls his speech and movement.

LINK TV offered less than two minutes from Vanunu, who said nothing new. LINK TV claims to be the only USA media to broadcast an interview with Vanunu but WAWA has the only exclusive video of Vanunu delivering a specific message to American Christians

Vanunu's next trial begins January 25, 2006, for speaking to the media.

The January 16 WAWA BLOG posts the OPED that was declined by over 100 USA media outlets:

http://www.wearewideawake.org