By DAHNA BLACK
Whistleblowers play an important role in government transparency. They are a vital resource to investigators and others working to protect the public interest and rid the government of waste, fraud and abuse.
But what happens after they speak up?
The Advisory Committee on Transparency invites the public, the media, members of the public interest community, and congressional staff to a panel discussion—“Making Whistleblowing Work”—this Friday, July 29 from 10:30 a.m. until noon in Rayburn House Office Building Room 2247. The panel will address the following issues:
Does the law protect them sufficiently from retaliation? How does blowing the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse in the government work? What is the balance between disclosure and the government’s legitimate need for confidentiality? What distinctions should we draw between reporting wrongdoing to employers, to Congress, to reporters, and online? Is WikiLeaks fundamentally different from what’s come before?
Angela Canterbury, POGO’s Director of Public Policy and member of the Advisory Committee on Transparency, will be joined by the following other panelists:
- Carolyn Lerner, Special Counsel, U.S. Office of Special Counsel
- Christian Sanchez, Border Patrol Agent, Customs & Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security
- Daniel Schuman, Moderator, Policy Counsel, the Sunlight Foundation
- Micah Sifry, Co-founder and editor of the Personal Democracy Forum; author of WikiLeaks and the Age of Transparency; Sunlight Foundation senior technology advisor.
You can RSVP for the event here.
Dahna Black is a POGO Policy Fellow.
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