Eric Umansky

What's going on at Los Alamos?

There have long been reports  of shenanigans at our nation's top nuke lab.  The place seems to be  poorly run and employees are pissed about it, one even set a blog to kvetch. Some of the whistleblowers have been retaliated against, but never anything like beaten up--until now. Here's what the watchdogs at POGO just emailed:

Los Alamos Whistleblower Assaulted Over Weekend Days Before Congressional Investigators Arrive Whistleblower Tommy Hook is still hospitalized today after being brutally assaulted over the weekend. A group of three to four assailants threatened Hook to keep silent.Mr. Hook was slated to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this month.
[...]

Mr. Hook had planned at the end of last week to meet an individual who claimed to have corroborating information about fraud at Los Alamos. That individual never attended the meeting. Late Saturday evening, someone who might have been posing as that individual called Mr. Hook and asked to meet with him at a bar in Santa Fe. He went to the bar and waited but that person never showed up. When Mr. Hook got into his car to leave, attackers pulled him out of the car and brutally assaulted him. The assailants threatened Mr. Hook to keep silent. A bouncer at the bar intervened and broke up the attack. Mr. Hook was hospitalized in an Emergency Room with severe trauma to his face and head, including a fractured jaw, and a herniated disk. He is heavily medicated today and unable to speak to the media.

Another Administration Good Gov't Initiative

From AP:

WASHINGTON

The head of the federal office responsible for protecting government whistleblowers is the focus of a complaint filed Thursday by some of his own employees, who say he is undermining laws that encourage workers to expose wrongdoing.

Scott Bloch, who runs the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, refuses to enforce laws that protect whistleblowers in the federal workplace, especially gays, and is retaliating against his own staff, the employees alleged.

According to the employees' complaint, a new policy instituted by Bloch resulted in the agency closing more than 600 cases in only a few months, without referring any of them for investigation of whether the employees' allegations of government misconduct are true.

Under the policy, the employees allege career staff in the agency's disclosure unit are not permitted to contact whistleblowers but are required to close their cases unless their written filings are sufficient on their face to establish a basis for investigation.

The bureaucrat's office has called the charges B.S., "baseless" to be exact. You see, there's been  a flood of false whistleblower claims. Thankfully, the office's heroic efforts have completely stemmed the tide.  From the Wash Post recently:

"Bloch told [Rep] Waxman that the agency had whittled down pending whistle-blower claims from nearly 700 cases to 100. [OSC spokeswoman] Deeds said yesterday that the 600 processed cases involved minor matters or issues previously investigated and none was referred to Cabinet departments for further scrutiny.”

Thanks to the  watchdog folks at POGO, who are in on the suit, for pointing me to the Post.

 

 

WH's domestic democracy program

In my mind democracy operates along a continuum. It could be super-healthy (eh, Luxemburg?), all clogged up, or simply dead. It all depends on things like participation, transparency, accountability, etc. etc.

Anyway, let freedom reign!:

New York Times (Sunday, pg. 24) WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 - Over strenuous objections from the Bush administration, Congress is moving to increase protections for federal employees who expose fraud, waste and wrongdoing inside the government.

Lawmakers of both parties say the measures are needed to prevent retaliation against such whistleblowers, who reveal threats to public health, safety and security.

But the administration says the bill unconstitutionally interferes with the president's ability to control and manage the government.

[...]
While the legislation has broad support and a compromise appears to be within reach, it is impossible to know whether the measure will become law. As evidence of a need for legislation, lawmakers cited dozens of cases, including these:

¶Federal investigators found that two Border Patrol agents, Mark Hall and Robert Lindemann, were disciplined after they disclosed weaknesses in security along the Canadian border.

¶Teresa C. Chambers was dismissed from her job as chief of the United States Park Police after she said the agency did not have enough money or personnel to protect parks and monuments in the Washington area.

¶The nation's top Medicare official threatened to fire Richard S. Foster, the chief Medicare actuary, if he provided data to Congress showing the cost of the new Medicare law, which exceeded White House estimates.

Airport baggage screeners say they have been penalized for raising concerns about aviation security.