- Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), chairman of the House Government
Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International
Relations, yesterday postponed a hearing on national security whistleblowers.
-
- The decision came one day after the US Supreme Court
denied cert in the case of translator Sibel Edmonds against the FBI. The
Edmonds case highlighted a Bush administration policy of harassment and
termination of intelligence and law enforcement agents who demonstrate
any degree of independence, adherence to ethics, or skepticism. Edmonds
and other national security veterans formed the National Security Whistleblowers
Coalition as a result.
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- The following letter was sent by wrongfully terminated
National Security Agency (NSA) analyst Russ Tice to Shays prior to the
postponement of the hearing:
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- 28 NOV 2005
- The Honorable Christopher H. Shays,
- Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging
Threats and
- International Relations,
- U.S. House of Representatives,
- 1126 Longworth Building,
- Washington, D.C. 20515-0704
-
- Dear Congressman Shays,
-
- I am a former intelligence officer with the National
Security Agency (NSA), where I was retaliated against for following regulations,
and reporting my suspicions that a coworker was involved in espionage.
-
- I have recently found out that the mother of the person
I suspected was very-highly placed at posts in the Department of Defense
(DoD) at the Defense Information Security Agency (DISA), as a Deputy Under-Secretary
of Defense at the Pentagon for Intelligence, and the Principal Deputy Director
of the Defense Security Service (DSS).
-
- She was granted these posts and given our country?s highest
security clearances despite the fact that, as young women, she was a product
of Communist China who came to the United States in 1960. Considering
this, I believe the prospect of her daughter being involved in espionage
is greatly enhanced.
-
- The means of retaliation used against me by the security
office at NSA was to have me declared psychotic in order to revoke my security
clearance. This action was taken despite the fact that the very same office
at NSA conducted my routine psychological evaluation only nine months prior
and found me to be normal.
-
- The DoD Inspector General, and the Merit System Protection
Board have already sanctioned this outrageous act. As you know, the whistleblower
laws both current and proposed do not protect me from such a vile act as
this. Consequently, I believe I would be a perfect candidate to testify
at your subcommittee hearing on national security whistleblowers and the
abuse of security clearances.
-
- I have been informed by POGO that my name was submitted
to your office as a candidate to testify at this hearing, yet I have received
no word from you. From what I understand, your hearing will include the
bureaucratic entities that condone and foster the very misconduct that
is in question.
-
- I likewise have heard that the two whistleblowers to
appear were not removed from their posts nor were their security clearances
revoked in retaliation. Can you please explain to me why I was not contacted
by your office about this upcoming hearing or why no intelligence officers
will be testifying? At this date I am still very willing to testify at
your hearing and I would think that the retaliation dealt to me by the
?National Security? Agency (NSA) would be very pertinent to a hearing on
?national security? whistleblowers.
-
- As it currently stands, your proposed hearing does not
represent me or the abuses perpetrated against U.S. intelligence officers.
It also omits the only organization that is specifically dedicated to
national security whistleblowers, the National Security WhistleBlower Coalition
(NSWBC).
-
- To the detriment of the security of our citizens, the
Intelligence Community (IC) is using security clearance revocations as
weapons of retaliation to silence officers as a means of covering up malfeasance,
misconduct, and incompetence. In this letter I have intentionally included
some specifics of my case to alert you to the gravity of the potential
consequences that involve national security whistleblowers.
-
- It is with this in mind that I implore you to forgo the
06 December hearing and reschedule it to include intelligence officers
that have been victims of security clearance abuses and other NSWBC members
who have recent and firsthand knowledge of what these abuses mean in terms
of our nation?s security. Anything other will be a travesty of justice
and a serious breach of faith of the American people in terms of their
safety and security that is entrusted into your hands.
-
- Very Respectfully,
- Russell D. Tice
- Former Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, National
Security Agency
- Member, NSWBC
-
- Shay's postponement notice:
-
- POSTPONEMENT NOTICE
- 11/29/05
-
- TO: Members of the Government Reform Committee Subcommittee
on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations The
Subcommittee hearing entitled:
-
- National Security Whistleblowers in the post-9/11 Era:
Lost in a Labyrinth and Facing Retaliation by Security Clearance Revocation
originally scheduled for December 6 has been postponed.
-
- Issues involving security clearances and whistleblower
protections are both complex and controversial. Invited witnesses, particularly
the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and the Government Accountability
Project (GAP), requested more time to gather information and prepare testimony.
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- In the meantime, the Subcommittee has directed inquiry
letters to key federal agencies seeking documents detailing the myriad
of regulations, policies and practices that govern security clearance suspension
and revocation. Clearance actions can be used as a retaliatory tool against
whistleblowers. Agency responses are due on or before January 9, 2006.
The hearing has been rescheduled for January 24.
-
- This article in today's Christian Science Monitor
- may be germane to the Tice case:
-
- http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1130/p01s01-usfp.html
- http://waynemadsenreport.com/
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