Government Accountability Project

Defends corporate and federal government whistleblowers, substantiates their concerns and brings to national attention problems related to public health, the environment, food and drug safety, nuclear power/weapons and national security.

How do you help people in my community?

GAP provides services to corporate and public employees in the majority of states in the country through its legal services, investigations, instruction of law students, and public policy initiatives. Our lawyers and investigators, who are based out of our Washington D.C. or Seattle office, travel around the country to aid whistleblowers and concerned citizens. The following list describes our present work in several states:

1) California:

• Counsel U.S. Forest Service employees on legal rights 

2) District of Columbia:

• Office location
• Represent numerous federal employees
• Run law clinical education program with University of D.C.
• Represent numerous D.C. government employees

3) Maryland

• Help and represent numerous federal employees residing in the state

4) Montana:

• Represent small business owner on free speech concerns

5) New Mexico:

• Represent and advise Department of Energy employees from Los Alamos National Laboratories in whistleblowing cases
• Investigate the food safety concerns of a USDA veterinary medical officer

6) North Carolina:

• Represent corporate employee on whistleblower case

7) Virginia:

• Counsel for employees in Pentagon and other federal workers residing in VA

8) Washington:

• Operate office in Seattle to serve whistleblowers in western states
• Represent numerous whistleblowers at Hanford nuclear weapons facility
• Investigate other Hanford worker and public health and safety concerns

Why do you need my support?

Individual donors are a crucial component in GAP's fight for openness and accountability. Donations from individuals like you allow us to represent more whistleblowers and be more effective at exposing and correcting wrongdoings and threats to public welfare. At present we are only able to take 5 to 10 percent of the cases that come to us. Your support would enable us to pursue more cases and to bring greater public attention to the substantive issues and concerns identified by our clients. It would also allow us to devote more time to our coalition work and to strengthening our collaboration with other groups.

Our long-term objective is to create an institutional culture within government agencies and corporations that would free and even encourage employees to speak up about illegal practices, public health hazards, environmental threats, improper influence peddling and other major problems. Over the next five years we hope to take a number of concrete steps – most of which are measurable – to enhance the impact of whistleblowers.  These include the following:

1. Create lasting protections and legal defenses for whistleblowers in the government, corporations and international institutions through: *realizing the potential of legislative and policy reforms already enacted through the use strategic litigation *drafting model policies as well as specific proposals to overcome shortcomings in the implementation of current law and policy  * working with institutions such as corporations and the multilateral development banks to create whistleblower policies *creating unique whistleblower dispute resolution programs and *informing workers of their whistleblower rights

2.  Protect individual whistleblowers by: * representing select whistleblowers in court and on policy issues through legal representation and Congressional, media and other activity *providing extensive self-help information on our website for whistleblowers and their attorneys and * recruiting and training attorneys interested in whistleblower law and creating a large group of skilled attorneys available to represent whistleblowers

3.  See that critical information, such as global warming data, reaches the public in an honest and non-politicalized form and that scientists and other professionals are free to share the full results of their work without political distortions

4.  Press for worker and consumer safety reforms indicated by recent whistleblower revelations. For example, we hope to help: * create a FDA post-approval safety division * ensure that the new nuclear safety rules are both strong and enforced and * advocate for improved drug approval and food monitoring programs at FDA and USDA

5.  Press for improved Congressional oversight of Executive Branch activities, challenge secrecy in national security operations and work for open government

6. Strengthen GAP’s program work by developing the capacity to respond to whistleblowers in new areas and finding new ways to communicate our results more broadly and creatively

7. Focus increased attention on how to most effectively penalize corporate behavior so that companies will routinely reject schemes to * unduly influence government policy through illegal means * dispense false data and analysis * accuse and threaten individual government regulatory employees or * evade responsibility through other unethical practices.

Over the next several years we do not expect other groups to replicate our overall work with its unique combination of advocacy for whistleblowers, representation of individual whistleblowers, and reform efforts arising out of the revelations from whistleblowers. We do, nevertheless, see increasing opportunities to work collaboratively with other public interest groups, concerned citizens, government agencies and officials, and the media in their complementary efforts to use the information from whistleblowers in ways that honor and do justice to that information.

Please support us in our fight for truth!

How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?

GAP is committed to using your donation wisely. GAP is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization. We are annually audited in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards by an independent certified public accountant in the immediately preceding year. Our board is a responsible governing body whose members have no material conflict of interest.

Can I Volunteer? How?

Like any good organizers, we engage our supporter in a way that both meets the needs of the organization and the desire of the supporters to be even more actively involved in our daily work. We listen to how people want to engage with us. Most commonly, we supply non-confidential educational materials that detail our cases and advocacy. We also send our volunteers occasional Action Alerts, requesting them to contact a representative about a specific issue or bill. In addition, people who live in the Washington D.C. or Seattle areas often volunteer in our offices, assisting with research, administration and other tasks as needed.

If you would like to be added to our quarterly newsletter list, monthly e-newsletter & Action Alert list (via email) or volunteer list, please send an email to shelleyw@whistleblower.org .