Members of the Intelligence Community, whether they are federal employees or government contractors, must follow the law in disclosing their reasonable belief of a violation of law, rule, regulation, or an abuse of authority.— Andrew P. Bakaj (@AndrewBakaj) November 5, 2019
Moreover, given the classified nature of Intelligence Community programs and operations, Congress has an increased reliance on Intelligence Community Inspectors General (ie. ICIG, CIA IG, NSA IG, DIA IG, NGA IG, NRO IG) in fulfilling their congressional oversight role.
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Intelligence Community employees and government contractors are the the "tip of the spear" of oversight, and their disclosures to Inspectors General is what allows for the Inspectors General to be mission effective.
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Given that Congressional oversight over the Intelligence Community is reliant on Inspectors General, in the end Congressional Oversight is effective BECAUSE OF whistleblowers.
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Recognizing this, in 1998 Congress codified into law the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act setting forth procedures for Intelligence Community employees and contractors to report disclosures through the Inspector General to Congressional Intelligence Committees.
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Subsequently in 2012, Presidential Policy Directive 19 was issued Protecting Whistleblowers with Access to Classified Information, the mechanism by which Intelligence Community Whistleblowers are protected from retaliation as a consequence of engaging in protected activity.
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The purpose of this is to both encourage lawful disclosures through appropriate channels and to deter unauthorized disclosures (ie. leaks) that can gravely harm our national security, thus dovetailing with the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act discussed, above.
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The call to have my client's identity disclosed will fundamentally harm a process that took decades to build. By extension, it will adversely impact Congressional oversight. These consequences, I fear, will be long-lasting.
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If Congress and others do not protect my client's anonymity-which my client is afforded to by law-not only does it jeopardize their safety, but it jeopardizes an entire system that took decades to build. It will destroy effective Congressional oversight for years to come.
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This is what is at stake. It is time for Members of Congress and our government leaders to internalize this fact.
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