Grassley Calls on FBI to Comply with Whistleblower Protection Law
FBI continues to provide erroneous information about employees’ statutory rights championed by Grassley
WASHINGTON – Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley today called on the FBI to explain
why it has failed to update its whistleblower policies, employee trainings and
internal communications to comply with the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (FBI WPEA). Grassley introduced
the new protections last Congress to bring FBI whistleblower policies in line
with other federal agencies. The bipartisan bill was signed into law on
December 16, 2016.
As
of yesterday, four months after the bill became law, the FBI’s official
whistleblower policy directive still provides incorrect guidance to employees
on how to make protected disclosures of wrongdoing because it does not reflect
the changes made in the FBI WPEA. Multiple internal communications to
employees containing inaccurate and outdated information about whistleblowers’
rights under the law have occurred despite enactment of the new law.
Additionally,
the Office of Inspector General provided an updated version of employee training
on FBI whistleblower protections months ago. That updated training has not yet
been implemented.
In
a letter to FBI Director James Comey, Grassley requested a copy of a correct
and updated policy, as well as details on steps the FBI will take to ensure
employees are informed of their statutory rights under the FBI WPEA.
“Whistleblowers are critical to uncovering wrongdoing in government. However, the old process for reporting waste, fraud or abuse at the FBI was vague, confusing and left whistleblowers with conflicting instructions for how to properly make disclosures without fear of reprisals,” Grassley said. “The FBI has had months to update its policies. It’s failure to do so suggests a serious gap between rhetoric and reality on whistleblower protection at the FBI.”
The
FBI WPEA was
introduced by Chairman Grassley and then-Ranking Member Patrick Leahy in
the 114th Congress and was eventually passed
by the full senate last December.
The
full text of Grassley’s
letter follows.
April 14,
2017
VIA
ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION
The
Honorable James B. Comey, Jr.
Director
Federal
Bureau of Investigation
935
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington,
D.C. 20535
Dear
Director Comey,
On
December 16, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Federal Bureau of
Investigation Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. The new law clarified
that FBI employee protections include disclosures made not just to specific
officials listed in the previous regulation but also to supervisors and
officers within the chain of command up to and including the head of the
agency, members of Congress, and the Office of Special Counsel.
However,
the FBI’s official whistleblower policy directive still does not reflect the
changes to the law. It was apparently last reviewed on February 19, 2017 and
still posted on the FBI’s internal system as of yesterday—nearly four months
after the FBI WPEA became effective. Yet, it erroneously tells FBI employees
that they are only protected for disclosures to the certain, specific officials
that could receive protected disclosures before the new law.
Further,
multiple employee communications issued at least a month prior to this policy
on whistleblower protection in the FBI were inaccurate. I understand these and
other errors were brought to the attention of agency leadership. Significant
errors, including the February 2017 policy, reportedly remain in place.
An
updated version of the training on FBI whistleblower protections was provided
to the FBI by the Office of the Inspector General months ago, and has yet to be
implemented. Further, no other effort allegedly has been made to ensure that
FBI employees are fully aware of their new statutory rights under the FBI WPEA.
Accordingly,
please provide the Committee with a copy of a correct, updated policy.
Additionally, please describe what specific steps the FBI will take to ensure
its employees are properly and timely informed and trained on these statutory
clarifications through guidance and training.
Thank you
in advance for your cooperation with this request. Please respond no later than
April 27, 2017. If you have questions, contact DeLisa Lay of my Committee staff
at (202) 224-5225.
Sincerely,
Charles
E. Grassley
Chairman
Senate
Judiciary Committee
cc:
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Ranking
Member
Senate
Judiciary Committee
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