Whistleblower-Retaliation

ICE whistleblower faces retaliation after reporting weapons violations at detention facility

| Importance: 8/10

Carlo Jimenez, a Navy Iraq War veteran and ICE supervisory detention officer, reported weapons violations after an officer distributed pocketknives to staff at Montgomery Processing Center in December 2022. Despite weapons being banned, leadership took no action. After Jimenez reported to DHS …

Carlo Jimenez Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Department of Homeland Security OIG Merit Systems Protection Board whistleblower-retaliation cover-up weapons-violations detention-misconduct
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Trump Removes Glenn Fine from Pentagon IG, Blocking $2 Trillion CARES Act Oversight

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump removed Glenn Fine from his position as acting inspector general for the Defense Department on April 7, 2020, just one week after Fine was selected to chair the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee tasked with overseeing the $2.2 trillion CARES Act stimulus spending. The …

Donald Trump Glenn Fine Carolyn Maloney Mitt Romney Stephen Lynch inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis covid-19 +1 more
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HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm Reports Severe Hospital Shortages, Trump Attacks Her Credibility

| Importance: 8/10

Principal Deputy Inspector General Christi Grimm of the Department of Health and Human Services released a report on April 6, 2020, documenting “severe shortages” of COVID-19 testing supplies and “widespread shortages” of personal protective equipment at hospitals nationwide. …

Christi Grimm Donald Trump Jason Weida Department of Health and Human Services inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis covid-19 +1 more
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Trump Fires Impeachment Witnesses Vindman and Sondland in Coordinated Retaliation Purge

| Importance: 9/10

President Trump orchestrated a coordinated purge of impeachment witnesses on February 7, 2020, just two days after his Senate acquittal, firing both Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland in unmistakable retaliation for their truthful congressional testimony. Vindman, the …

Donald Trump Alexander Vindman Yevgeny Vindman Gordon Sondland David Pressman +1 more inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis impeachment +1 more
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OMB Official Mark Sandy Testifies on Ukraine Aid Freeze, Reveals Two Colleagues Resigned Over Concerns

| Importance: 8/10

Mark Sandy, a career Office of Management and Budget (OMB) official serving as deputy associate director for national security programs, testified to House impeachment investigators on November 16, 2019, revealing that two of his OMB colleagues resigned in protest over concerns that Trump’s …

Mark Sandy Michael Duffey Donald Trump Office of Management and Budget (OMB) inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis ukraine +1 more
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Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats Resigns After Repeated Conflicts with Trump Over Russia

| Importance: 8/10

President Trump announced via Twitter on July 28, 2019, that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats would resign effective August 15, ending a tumultuous two-year tenure marked by fundamental conflicts over Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and ongoing threats to American …

Dan Coats Donald Trump John Ratcliffe Vladimir Putin inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis intelligence community +1 more
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Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch Recalled from Ukraine After Giuliani-Led Smear Campaign

| Importance: 8/10

President Trump ordered the recall of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch from her post in Ukraine on April 24, 2019, with her recall becoming public on May 7, following a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated by Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, corrupt Ukrainian prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko, …

Marie Yovanovitch Donald Trump Rudy Giuliani Yuriy Lutsenko Lev Parnas +2 more inspector general whistleblower retaliation obstruction of justice accountability crisis ukraine +1 more
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Trump Overrides 25+ Security Clearance Denials for Family and Allies

| Importance: 8/10

President Trump overrode security clearance denials for at least 25 individuals including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, despite FBI and CIA objections citing foreign influence, conflicts of interest, personal conduct, financial problems, and drug use. Kushner’s clearance was denied due to …

Donald Trump Jared Kushner Ivanka Trump John Kelly Carl Kline +1 more security-clearances national-security nepotism foreign-influence whistleblower-retaliation
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Porter Goss Begins Systematic Purge of CIA Analysts

| Importance: 8/10

Newly appointed CIA Director Porter Goss, accompanied by his ‘Gosslings’ staff from House Intelligence Committee, begins systematic removal of senior CIA officials who had challenged Bush administration intelligence claims. The purge targeted the Directorate of Operations and included …

Porter Goss John McLaughlin Stephen Kappes Michael Sulick House Intelligence Committee Staff +1 more intelligence-purge cia-politicization whistleblower-retaliation institutional-capture political-appointments
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Chuck Colson Pleads Guilty to Obstruction of Justice in Ellsberg Case, Serves Seven Months

| Importance: 7/10

On June 21, 1974, Charles Wendell “Chuck” Colson—Nixon’s Special Counsel and the official known as the President’s “hatchet man”—pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in connection with attempts to discredit Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg. Colson …

Chuck Colson Daniel Ellsberg E. Howard Hunt John Ehrlichman watergate obstruction-of-justice whistleblower-retaliation plea-bargain accountability-failure
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White House Plumbers Break Into Daniel Ellsberg Psychiatrist Office Seeking Pentagon Papers Dirt

| Importance: 9/10

In September 1971, the White House Special Investigations Unit—mockingly known as the “Plumbers” because their mission was to stop leaks—broke into the Los Angeles office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, psychiatrist to Daniel Ellsberg, who had leaked the Pentagon Papers exposing government lies …

E. Howard Hunt G. Gordon Liddy Chuck Colson John Ehrlichman Egil Krogh +2 more watergate abuse-of-power intelligence-agencies institutional-corruption whistleblower-retaliation
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New York Times Exposes Tweed Ring with Stolen Records

| Importance: 8/10

The New York Times publishes its first article with documented proof of the Tweed Ring’s massive corruption, headlined “MORE RING VILLIANY.” Publisher George Jones obtains incriminating receipts and accounting records stolen by a disgruntled Tammany functionary denied his expected …

New York Times George Jones (Publisher) William "Boss" Tweed Tammany Hall systematic-corruption institutional-capture political-machines whistleblower-retaliation
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