A diverse coalition of about 150 organizations, including the National Freedom of Information Coalition, in a Nov. 10, 2021, letter urged Congress to protect contractors and grantees who blow the whistle on wrongdoing. “New government spending to address the devastating effects of COVID-19 and domestic priorities such as infrastructure spending could exceed trillions of dollars. […]
Read More… from NFOIC endorses letter urging stronger protections for whistleblowers
From The New York Times: WASHINGTON — Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor, said in an extensive interview this month that he did not take any secret N.S.A. documents with him to Russia when he fled there in June, assuring that Russian intelligence officials could not get access to them.
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Read More… from Snowden says he took no secret files to Russia
From Boing Boing: Freedom of the Press Foundation has taken charge of the DeadDrop project, an open-source whistleblower submission system originally coded by the late transparency advocate Aaron Swartz. In the coming months, the Foundation will also provide on-site installation and technical support to news organizations that wish to run the system, which has been renamed “SecureDrop.”
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From First Amendment Center: What The Associated Press calls “a massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Department of Justice”(DOJ) into its news gathering activities is more than an affront to a free press — it’s a direct challenge.
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Read More… from Gene Policinski: Seizure of AP phone records: An affront to a free press
From Project on Government Oversight:
The U.S. Senate was on the verge of passing a bill that would have increased government secrecy, put whistleblowers in jeopardy, and made government less accountable. Thankfully, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon stood up for our freedom of speech and put a hold on this bill.
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From The Associated Press:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed legislation Tuesday that affords greater protection to federal employees who expose fraud, waste and abuse in government operations.
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Read More… from President signs whistle-blower bill for U.S. workers
From Lehigh Valley:
A lawsuit against Warren County Community College is back on the statewide Internet database after a complaint from a public records advocate.
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Read More… from Warren County Community College lawsuit now searchable online
A few state FOIA and local open government news items selected from many of interest that we might or might not have drawn attention to earlier in the week:
Is secrecy justified in George Zimmerman case?
On the very first day George Zimmerman faced a judge on charges of murdering Trayvon Martin, it appeared the special prosecutor and Zimmerman's attorney were working together to keep certain records secret.
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