Crushing Whistleblowers

It’s got to be embarrassing to have a civil services governance system that awards solid performance bonuses to senior managers if their paperwork reflects hitting the requisite benchmarks… regardless of what’s actually happening. And if there is a real disconnect between the paperwork and the reality, the biggest enemy of the reward/promotion-seeker istruth. A loose whistleblower with justice and accuracy on his or her mind is your worst enemy.

Without cracking into whether there should be cash bonuses to any civil servant ever… guess how I feel about that… we really need to prioritize truth with a reasonable balancing act to protect other legitimate interests we cherish. And so many of these balances involve “privacy” pitted against governmental interests.

NSA’s wide-sweeping e-intercepts and wiretaps, embracing leaders in Germany and Brazil as well as just about every American anywhere (until they were reined in), have stunned just about everyone, even including a do-nothing Congress that is passing bipartisan legislation to limit NSA’s frenzied phone frolic. The constitution itself crinkled in its hallowed glass case at the revelations.

Whistleblower Edward Snowden has been richly rewarded, and almost uniformly lambasted, with asylum in Russia (would prison be more comfortable?). “He should have complained within the system to protect our national security,” admonish many. Really? And exactly what do you think would have happened to his complaint? In this balancing act, it was “privacy” that seemed to trump governmental interests.

Hmmm, our government mavens seem to have observed, if privacy is that important, perhaps we can use that force against whistleblowers to keep them quiet and send a message that will crush anyone thinking about whistleblowing where someone’s privacy might be involved. And when it comes to menacing medical matters, those seeking to silence whistleblowers have a weapon that they are beginning to use… with all too much joy: the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The statute was intended to protect personal medical records from prying eyes that could invade a patient’s most personal information.

But what a wonderful way to silence critics of despicable policies in Veterans Administration medical facilities. If patients are dying or suffering because of phantom waitlists that never end, violations of VA directives, policies and common dignity, to identify the problem – and provide tangible evidence of the malignant medical misfeasance – you’d have to identify the poor veterans whose health or lives have been threatened. And that, my fine feathered friends, could be read as a clear and flagrant violation of HIPAA’s privacy mandate.

“Citing patient privacy, managers have threatened VA employees or retaliated against those who complain about agency misconduct, according to a key congressman and the union that represents most of the department’s employees… ‘VA routinely uses HIPAA as an excuse to punish into submission employees who dare to speak out,’ said Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. He is leading a probe into the cover-up of long wait times for VA patients…

“The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which investigates whistleblower retaliation cases, is ‘very concerned about the misuse of HIPAA,’ said Eric Bachman, an OSC deputy special counsel. ‘The potential chilling effect of even a small number of these HIPAA retaliation cases is a serious issue and one that should be addressed by the VA in short order.’…

“[The VA’s] Office of Inspector General (OIG) [has clearly stated that] ‘an employee can legally provide any VA record to the VA OIG.’ … VA managers don’t seem to know or care that employees are allowed to use patient information when informing appropriate authorities about misconduct. ‘If VA cannot protect whistleblowers who reveal corruption it is not a system worth saving,’ Miller said in a letter to President Obama [in early July].”  Washington Post, July 17^th.

As journalists feel the hot breath of federal prosecutors in search of their sources, as civil servants feel untoward pressures to silence needed and legitimate whistleblowing, and as military commanders rail that the thought that sexual assaults in the ranks could possibly be removed from their whitewashing prerogatives, there is something very wrong with our system of government. What exactly should we do to discipline those attempting to crush the truth?s

Democracy is predicated on transparency, on checks and balances that are supposed to make it work. Forget about the requirements of the First Amendment on free speech and a free press, arguing that national security, military disciplineand a privacy statute that was never intended as a mask for wrongdoing trump that need for governmental transparency is an argument for a system of government that is most definitely not a democracy. If we over-protect our nation, we will eventually have nothing left to protect.

I’m Peter Dekom, and democracy is a fragile concept that is easily abused and eroded.