Another phony Congressional Hearing...

From Christian Science Monitor:

posted November 30, 2005 at 11:00 a.m.
National security whistle-blowers call for boycott of hearing
Groups say witnesses to be called by panel will not represent their 'concerns and experiences.'
By Tom Regan
csmonitor.com

Groups representing national security whistle-blowers are calling for a boycott of a congressional hearing to be held next week to examine "whether [US government] agencies are unjustly revoking or suspending security clearances in retaliation against employees who speak out against wrongdoing."

GovExec.com, the daily news service of Government Executive magazine, reported Tuesday that the whistleblower groups say that the witnesses to be called before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations do not include whistle-blowers with firsthand knowledge of problems.

"The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, together with supporting organizations and over 100 national security whistleblowers, respectfully urges you to postpone this hearing," Sibel Edmonds, founder and director of the coalition, wrote in a letter to Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., the subcommittee chairman. "We stand ready to work with your office to do the work necessary to schedule a meaningful event where valuable testimony and information may be provided to Congress."

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition was founded by Ms. Edmonds in August of 2004. Edmonds is a former FBI agent who was fired in 2002 after she came forward with stories of wrongdoing and incompetence in the agency. Other members of the coalition include Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent who tried to tell superiors about Zacarias Moussaoui taking flight lessons that didn't include training on how to land the plane, and Daniel Ellsberg, founder of the Truth Telling Project and the individual who leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in the '70s.

Another group protesting the hearing is Concerned Foreign Service Officers, which has been working with the NSWBC for several months. These groups and others met last month to discuss how to strengthen their legal protections against reprisals.

GovExec.com also reports that Lawrence Halloran, subcommittee staff director and counsel for the panel hearing from whistle-blowers, said he was surprised and confused by the groups' position on the hearing.

He added that the panel would hear from several people and groups who have extensive experience with whistleblowing. "It's just too bad they can't take yes for an answer," Halloran said. "This is the hearing that the whistle-blowers wanted."

But Daniel Hirsh, who earlier this year founded Concerned Foreign Service Officers, said in a letter to the committee, "None of your panel members can truly testify to the real problems, real issues, real cases, that need your attention and need to be addressed."

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court decided Tuesday not to review Ms. Edmonds's case. The court also rebuffed an attempt by Edmonds and media organizations to decide if an appellate court improperly held arguments in the case in secret without being asked to do so by either side.
The New York Times reports that Edmonds, who had been hired as a contract linguist by the FBI, had among other issues "complained repeatedly that bureau linguists produced slipshod and incomplete translations of important intelligence before and after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001." The FBI has said that Edmonds allegations were incorrect and that she was "disruptive."
Ms. Edmonds's accusations had caused great discomfort within the bureau. Justice Department officials had complained that allowing the suit to proceed could expose intelligence-gathering methods and disrupt diplomatic relations. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked a rarely used power and declared that the case fell under the "state secret" privilege.

The Associated Press reports that Edmonds's firing created a controversy in Congress after the Justice Department's inspector general ruled in 2004 that the FBI had not taken her complaints seriously enough and had fired her for lodging complaints about the translation unit.

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