FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- April 26, 2006
Contact: Sibel Edmonds, National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, sedmonds@nswbc.org,
Tel- (703) 519-3640
Congress Not Allowed to
Receive Information from NSA Whistleblower
The
Chairmen of the House & Senate Intelligence Committees Dodge Oversight
Responsibility; Again!
On
December 22, 2005, the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) made
public the request by a former NSA intelligence analyst and action officer to report to Congress probable unlawful and
unconstitutional acts conducted while he was an intelligence officer with the
National Security Agency (NSA) and with the Defense Intelligence Agency
(DIA). NSWBC urged the congress to hold hearings and let Mr. Tice
testify. Today, more than four months
after Mr. Tice’s letters were sent to the chairs of the Senate and House
Intelligence Committees and publicized in the media, he has yet to receive a
response and be given an opportunity to lawfully disclose his first-hand
account of criminal acts conducted by the National Security Agency.
“Here
you have a responsible veteran intelligence officer who has been trying to
reach out to the so-called appropriate channels, including the United States
Congress, to appropriately and lawfully make disclosure of government
wrongdoing; yet, as we have seen time and time again, these attempts prove to
be futile. Amazingly enough, congressional representatives such as Senator Pat
Roberts, the Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) continue to mislead the public by making false statements
regarding the availability of appropriate channels for whistleblowers to
disclose government waste, fraud, abuse and/or criminal activities. We would
like for Senator Roberts to come out, in light of all these documented cases of
whistleblowers’ attempts to report to congress cases of agency wrongdoing, and
explain to the public what he means by the ‘availability of appropriate channels
for Intelligence whistleblowers to report other than the media’, and when will
the system be fixed so we do not have to throw out the best in government to
expose the misdeeds of the worst,” stated Sibel Edmonds, the director of
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC).
On
December 16, 2005, Russ Tice wrote to the chairs of the Senate and House
Intelligence Committees requesting a classified briefing to report to Congress
probable unlawful and unconstitutional acts conducted while he was an
intelligence officer with the National Security Agency (NSA) and with the
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). In his letter, Mr. Tice stated that
these acts involved the Director of the National Security Agency, the Deputies
Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, and the U.S. Secretary of Defense,
and were conducted via very highly sensitive intelligence programs and
operations known as Special Access Programs (SAP). SAP programs and
operations are more commonly referred to as “black world” programs and
operations (To read Mr. Tice’s Letter to Congress Click Here)
On January
09, 2006, NSA sent a letter addressed to Mr. Tice and asserted that no
senators, congressmen or staff on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
(SSCI) or the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI)
possessed high enough security clearance to be briefed by Mr. Tice. (To read
NSA’s letter to Mr. Tice Click Here)
Today,
in a letter sent by Mr. Tice to the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, Senator Pat Roberts, he states: “To this date I have not received a response from you or
the SSCI addressing my request to testify about these SAP programs.” Further
the letter reads, “As the responsible committee for intelligence in the Senate,
I have been waiting for your directions on this matter. If another committee is the proper place for
me to testify, I believe it is your responsibility to forward my request to
that committee and keep me informed of the process.” (To read the entire letter
Click Here)
Professor
William Weaver, NSWBC Senior Advisor stated:”In our system of government the
People are the fail-safe mechanism of accountability. When no other
avenue works, when no one in political power will listen, when the government
colludes to deceive the citizens, it is the People who represent the final
court of accountability for those acts and failures. Whistleblowers in
national security agencies have no safe way to report illegal governmental
activity; their careers, and even their safety, are put in danger by utilizing
official channels of reporting. They become whistleblowers outside the
system as a last resort, after they have been failed by agencies, inspectors
general, Congress, and oversight organizations. They give the decision to
the People in a last and desperate act to make sure that right is done.
They also know that by giving the power of knowledge to the public they are
sacrificing whatever is left of themselves and their careers.”
About National Security Whistleblowers Coalition
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC), founded in
August 2004, is an independent and nonpartisan alliance of whistleblowers who
have come forward to address our nation’s security weaknesses; to inform
authorities of security vulnerabilities in our intelligence agencies, at
nuclear power plants and weapon facilities, in airports, and at our nation’s
borders and ports; to uncover government waste, fraud, abuse, and in some cases
criminal conduct. The NSWBC is dedicated to aiding national security
whistleblowers through a variety of methods, including advocacy of governmental
and legal reform, educating the public concerning whistleblowing activity,
provision of comfort and fellowship to national security whistleblowers
suffering retaliation and other harms, and working with other public interest
organizations to affect goals defined in the NSWBC mission statement. For
more on NSWBC visit www.nswbc.org
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