On the evening of Aug. 8, 1974, Richard M. Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, went on national TV and announced his resignation from office. Two years after the 1972 burglary at the Democratic National Committee headquarters inside the Watergate building in Washington, D.C. – and its subsequent cover-up that was traced back to the president and his associates – Nixon stepped down in disgrace.
A month later, his successor, former President Gerald R. Ford, absolved Nixon of any crimes “he committed or may have committed” while in office. Nixon was never prosecuted or charged with any illegal activity.
Whistleblower defined
Thanks at least in part to information provided by Deep Throat, an anonymous informant, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein were able to blow the lid off the Watergate scandal. Many years later, Deep Throat was identified as Mark Felt, an associate director of the FBI.
The general legal definition of a whistleblower is someone who reports any wrongdoing by an individual, employer or another business that harms the public, has the potential to harm the public, or whose actions are in some way illegal. In that regard, Felt fits the bill.
But whistleblower protection laws are in place, as the name implies, to protect the informant from employer sanctions and retaliation, such as termination, lack of advancement, discrimination or harassment. Laws have proliferated in subsequent years, but even if there had been strong whistleblower protection laws in place at the time of Watergate, those laws likely would not have applied to Felt since his identity was not revealed until 2005, some 30 years after the fact. He also did not incur any negative professional or personal repercussions as a result of his leaks to the press.
From Deep Throat to Snowden
Most states now have whistleblower protection laws on the books, but they vary as to whom they cover. California law, for example, encompasses all employees, while Colorado law only protects state employees.
Several federal laws have been signed into legislation as well. In 1989, the Whistleblower Protection Act was passed to protect federal employees from employer retaliation, but loopholes were created when federal courts challenged the legislation. For example, employees who disclosed previously known information became exempt.
In 2012, President Obama signed the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which tightened those loopholes.
So with federal legislation in place, why is Edward Snowden, a government contract employee who last year leaked classified information about the National Security Agency’s surveillance of Americans’ phone and computer records, living in self-imposed exile in Russia?
Snowden claims that being an intelligence agency contractor, rather than a federal employee, meant he was not protected by federal whistleblower laws and would have surely faced retaliation. Others, including those who helped formulate the legislation, say the act clearly covers contractors. Suffice it to say that there is much debate on the subject.
Photos: Wikipedia Commons
