Nadia Snoddy: If you’re working for the.Department of Justice, there may be times.that you observe something you think is just.wrong..And if and when that happens, you may be faced.with a choice about what to do about it..This video gives you information to help you.feel confident in coming forward to report.wrongdoing, and points you to additional resources.to help inform you of your rights and protections.for doing so..I’m Nadia Snoddy and I work for the Department.of Justice, and I’ll be your guide for the.Department of Justice Office of the Inspector.General’s latest training on whistleblower.rights and protections..Before we get started, I want to emphasize.that people who come forward when they see.something wrong perform an important service.to the Department and the public..This allows people like the Inspector General.to look into the situation and root out any.waste, fraud, abuse, or misconduct..And, people who come forward and blow the.whistle on wrongdoing should never suffer.reprisal for doing so..The importance of whistleblowers and their.protection is recognized by the leadership.of the Department of Justice..Rod Rosenstein: The Department of Justice.depends on employees to identify and report.misconduct..Examples include acts that violate the law,.contradict Department rules, constitute gross.mismanagement of personnel or money, or pose.a substantial risk to public health or safety..The Department of Justice is responsible for.enforcing our nation’s laws, so it is particularly.important for us to follow the law ourselves,.and to deter waste, fraud, or abuse of government.resources..Those forms of misconduct undermine our duty.to enforce the law and our responsibility.to conserve government resources..Each of us has an obligation to promote a.workplace culture that supports and encourages.reports about suspected wrongdoing..By disclosing evidence of wrongdoing, you.enable the Inspector General and other authorities.to conduct any appropriate investigation..Department of Justice supervisors understand.that no Department employee should ever face.retaliation for reporting wrongdoing in good.faith..We support whistleblower rights and protections..Keep in mind that before you provide sensitive.or classified information to anybody, you.need to make sure it is legal to disclose.it to that person..It is always permissible to report allegations.to our Inspector General..Their employees are subject to the same confidentiality.obligations as other Department officials,.so you can be confident that reporting suspected.wrongdoing does not violate your duty to protect.sensitive information..Thank you for taking the time to learn more.about whistleblower rights and responsibilities,.and for all of your work in support of the.Department of Justice..Nadia Snoddy: This video is part of the three-part.series, which will go over information you.may want to know before you blow the whistle,.what happens when you decide to come forward,.and what can happen after you blow the whistle..I’ll be talking with subject matter experts.from across the OIG who will explain the process.of blowing the whistle, each step of the way..We’ll start with what exactly is a whistleblower..James Mitzelfeld: A whistleblower is any employee.who sees what they reasonably believe to be.wrongdoing, and comes forward and blows the.whistle, using a lawful channel for their.disclosure..Nadia Snoddy: This is James Mitzelfeld, Senior.Counsel to the Assistant Inspector General.for the Investigations Division at the OIG.and a former Assistant United States Attorney..He is going to help us understand some of.the key things you may want to know before.you decide to blow the whistle..James Mitzelfeld: If we see wrongdoing, we.are often in the best place to bring that.information to light..And doing so really performs an important.service for the Department of Justice..That’s because it enables someone else to.look into the problem and take any necessary.corrective action to protect the public and.taxpayers..Nadia Snoddy: To be a whistleblower, do I.have to be a DOJ employee?.Or can, say, employees of contractors and.grantees be whistleblowers, too?.James Mitzelfeld: The laws protecting whistleblowers.cover DOJ employees, and also employees of.contractors, subcontractors, grantees, subgrantees,.and personal service contractors..So it’s illegal to retaliate against any.DOJ employees or employees who work for any.of these other kinds of organizations who.come forward with a protected disclosure..Nadia Snoddy: You’ve mentioned “protected.disclosures”– can you explain what that.means?.James Mitzelfeld: Sure, a disclosure is protected.if it satisfies two basic criteria..First, it has to be based on a “reasonable”.belief..That means you don’t have to be right that.the conduct you’re disclosing is improper,.but you have to believe you are disclosing.wrongdoing, and your belief must be objectively.reasonable..Second, the disclosure has to be made to a.person or entity that’s authorized to receive.it..We’ll talk a little bit more about that.in a minute, and the rules for FBI employees.are a bit different than those for the rest.of DOJ on this..Plus, it’s important to remember there are.special rules if the disclosure involves classified.information..That information can only be shared with an.appropriately cleared audience, such as the.Inspector General..And then, only through proper means of communication..Nadia Snoddy: What are examples of the different.types of wrongdoing that employees should.report?.James Mitzelfeld: The law talks about five.major categories of wrongdoing that employees.are encouraged to disclose..These are:.One..Disclosures regarding any violation of law,.rule or regulation;.Two..Disclosures involving gross mismanagement.-- and here we’re talking about something.that is not just a disagreement with management,.and I’m going to use some legal terms here,.but the employee needs to identify a problem.that creates a real risk of significant adverse.impact upon the agency’s ability to accomplish.its mission..Three..Evidence of gross waste of funds -- and again,.we’re not talking about debatable expenditures,.but those that are really unjustifiable and.out of proportion to any benefit the government.might receive from spending those tax dollars..Four..Evidence of abuse of authority by someone.in a position of authority; and finally.Five..Evidence of any substantial and specific danger.to public health or safety..Nadia Snoddy: Okay, so those kinds of disclosures.constitute protected whistleblowing..Now how do I make a report?.James Mitzelfeld: Well, I’ll first say that.what I’m going to talk about here applies.to all DOJ employees except those at the FBI..The FBI reporting procedure is a little bit.different..So those employees should take a look at the.OIG’s other training resources that are.specific to the Bureau..We also have additional resources for DOJ.contractors and grantees..What’s important to remember is that we.really want to encourage people to come forward.if they become aware of what they reasonably.believe to be wrongdoing..And there are a number of choices on where.employees can report wrongdoing..You can make a report to your immediate supervisor.or somebody higher up within your chain of.command..You don’t have to set out to be a whistleblower.either, in order to be protected..People sometimes think you have to go outside.your chain of command or your organization.to be considered a whistleblower, but that’s.not the case..If you make a disclosure to your supervisor,.and the information you shared falls into.one of the five categories I mentioned earlier,.it’s unlawful for your supervisor or anyone.else with knowledge of the disclosure to retaliate.against you for making it..And that’s true even if you didn’t necessarily.set out to blow the whistle..Nadia Snoddy: What if an employee doesn’t.feel comfortable talking with their boss about.wrongdoing – what options do they have?.James Mitzelfeld: If an employee doesn’t.feel comfortable making a disclosure to their.supervisor or others in their chain of command,.they can bring the information directly to.us at the Office of the Inspector General..Another option they have is to contact the.U.S. Office of Special Counsel, or OSC..The OSC is a separate federal agency outside.the Department of Justice..It has a number of different functions and.one of them is to receive and investigate.whistleblower complaints..Nadia Snoddy: My conversation with James covered.a lot of the information you might want to.know before you blow the whistle – like.who are whistleblowers, what is a protected.disclosure, and how to make a disclosure..If you want to make a report to the OIG, you.can do that online at oig.justice.gov or you.call 1-800-869-4499..We have people who are trained to take that.information..And you can contact OSC online at osc.gov..Now, here’s an example of someone who actually.went through this process..John Dodson is a Special Agent at the Bureau.of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,.or ATF..He was one of the whistleblowers who reported.about Operation Fast and Furious, which came.to light after the tragic death of a Border.Patrol Agent in a shooting incident down on.the Southwest Border..We talked to John about his experience..And we’ll come back to this interview a.couple of times throughout this training..John Dodson: I guess ultimately what we did.and what we were supposed to do were two different.things..What we were supposed to do was to combat.the illegal firearms trafficking to the Mexican.drug cartels..We were allowing a lot of firearms to walk.and when I say walk, as I’ve said many times,.it’s when we have the legal authority or.obligation that we should do something, we.should interdict, we should recover, seize.those firearms and the decision is made not.to and then you let it walk..The more that I was told that this is how.these cases are worked, the more it troubled.me that my experience had led me to believe.that that’s not how we should work these.cases..So when we watched these individuals who we.knew were straw purchasing, that these guns.were ultimately going to be trafficked and.in a very short time frame were going to be.recovered in similar crimes, for us to do.nothing and go home, just seemed wrong..It’s not what I went to Phoenix to do..It got to the point where several of us that.saw what was going on, that recognized it,.you know we talked to each other about it.and we always tried to address it with the.case agents and the supervisor..Every time we were met with the resistance.of, this is Phoenix, we know more about firearms.trafficking than Virginia does or than Ohio.does or than Alabama, wherever you are from..This is the Southwest border..Everyone at Headquarters is familiar with.this case; they know what we’re doing..They’re all behind it 100 percent..You guys are the only ones that are trying.to rock the boat, that think this isn’t.a good idea..So that’s you know the resistance that I.was met with..You’ve got to understand, it gets -- when.you’re in a situation for so long and you.have everyone around you telling you, this.is how you’re supposed to do it; this is.how it’s supposed to be done; there’s.something you’re not getting; you know after.trying to argue with them or point out what.I saw as the flaws in this and always getting.you know the contrary back and then I started.to ask okay what am I missing?.You know fill me in on the piece of this puzzle.that I don’t get..You know there has to be something to clear.this up..And then when you don’t get that or there.isn’t anything, then you start to -- then.you even start to second guess yourself a.little bit..Well maybe I am wrong, you know..I mean, here I am; I’m in their neck of.the woods for the most part..They’re all telling me this is how it’s.supposed to go..Nadia Snoddy: Special Agent Dodson observed.a practice that he thought was wrong, but.he received a lot of pushback when he raised.concerns about it..Ultimately, he and others decided to make.a report to the Office of the Inspector General.and to Congress, and it resulted in two major.reports by the OIG, Congressional hearings.and reports, and a number of recommendations.for improvements in the operations of ATF.and the Department generally..Deciding to make a report to the Office of.the Inspector General can feel like a big.step, especially if you don’t know what.to expect..Our next segment will cover what happens when.you decide to come forward..As James mentioned, the process for reporting.for FBI employees and contractors and grantees.is a bit different..So if you’re one of those kinds of employees,.before you move onto the next video in this.series, make sure you check out our other.resources..
