Whistleblower Asks To Testify Before Congress About Threats

Whistleblower Asks To Testify Before Congress About Threats To
National Security

11-30-5

Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT), chairman of the House Government Reform
Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and
International Relations, yesterday postponed a hearing on national
security whistleblowers.

The decision came one day after the US Supreme Court denied cert in
the case of translator Sibel Edmonds against the FBI. The Edmonds
case highlighted a Bush administration policy of harassment and
termination of intelligence and law enforcement agents who
demonstrate any degree of independence, adherence to ethics, or
skepticism. Edmonds and other national security veterans formed the
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition as a result.

The following letter was sent by wrongfully terminated National
Security Agency (NSA) analyst Russ Tice to Shays prior to the
postponement of the hearing:

28 NOV 2005
The Honorable Christopher H. Shays,
Chairman, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and
International Relations,
U.S. House of Representatives,
1126 Longworth Building,
Washington, D.C. 20515-0704
Dear Congressman Shays,

I am a former intelligence officer with the National Security Agency
(NSA), where I was retaliated against for following regulations, and
reporting my suspicions that a coworker was involved in espionage.

I have recently found out that the mother of the person I suspected
was very-highly placed at posts in the Department of Defense (DoD)
at the Defense Information Security Agency (DISA), as a Deputy Under-
Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon for Intelligence, and the
Principal Deputy Director of the Defense Security Service (DSS).

She was granted these posts and given our country?s highest security
clearances despite the fact that, as young women, she was a product
of Communist China who came to the United States in 1960.
Considering this, I believe the prospect of her daughter being
involved in espionage is greatly enhanced.

The means of retaliation used against me by the security office at
NSA was to have me declared psychotic in order to revoke my security
clearance. This action was taken despite the fact that the very same
office at NSA conducted my routine psychological evaluation only
nine months prior and found me to be normal.

The DoD Inspector General, and the Merit System Protection Board
have already sanctioned this outrageous act. As you know, the
whistleblower laws both current and proposed do not protect me from
such a vile act as this. Consequently, I believe I would be a
perfect candidate to testify at your subcommittee hearing on
national security whistleblowers and the abuse of security
clearances.

I have been informed by POGO that my name was submitted to your
office as a candidate to testify at this hearing, yet I have
received no word from you. From what I understand, your hearing will
include the bureaucratic entities that condone and foster the very
misconduct that is in question.

I likewise have heard that the two whistleblowers to appear were not
removed from their posts nor were their security clearances revoked
in retaliation. Can you please explain to me why I was not contacted
by your office about this upcoming hearing or why no intelligence
officers will be testifying? At this date I am still very willing to
testify at your hearing and I would think that the retaliation dealt
to me by the ?National Security? Agency (NSA) would be very
pertinent to a hearing on ?national security? whistleblowers.

As it currently stands, your proposed hearing does not represent me
or the abuses perpetrated against U.S. intelligence officers. It
also omits the only organization that is specifically dedicated to
national security whistleblowers, the National Security
WhistleBlower Coalition (NSWBC).

To the detriment of the security of our citizens, the Intelligence
Community (IC) is using security clearance revocations as weapons of
retaliation to silence officers as a means of covering up
malfeasance, misconduct, and incompetence. In this letter I have
intentionally included some specifics of my case to alert you to the
gravity of the potential consequences that involve national security
whistleblowers.

It is with this in mind that I implore you to forgo the 06 December
hearing and reschedule it to include intelligence officers that have
been victims of security clearance abuses and other NSWBC members
who have recent and firsthand knowledge of what these abuses mean in
terms of our nation?s security. Anything other will be a travesty of
justice and a serious breach of faith of the American people in
terms of their safety and security that is entrusted into your
hands.

Very Respectfully,
Russell D. Tice
Former Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, National Security
Agency
Member, NSWBC

Shay's postponement notice:

POSTPONEMENT NOTICE
11/29/05

TO: Members of the Government Reform Committee Subcommittee on
National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations The
Subcommittee hearing entitled:

National Security Whistleblowers in the post-9/11 Era: Lost in a
Labyrinth and Facing Retaliation by Security Clearance Revocation
originally scheduled for December 6 has been postponed.

Issues involving security clearances and whistleblower protections
are both complex and controversial. Invited witnesses, particularly
the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) and the Government
Accountability Project (GAP), requested more time to gather
information and prepare testimony.

In the meantime, the Subcommittee has directed inquiry letters to
key federal agencies seeking documents detailing the myriad of
regulations, policies and practices that govern security clearance
suspension and revocation. Clearance actions can be used as a
retaliatory tool against whistleblowers. Agency responses are due on
or before January 9, 2006. The hearing has been rescheduled for
January 24.

This article in today's Christian Science Monitor
may be germane to the Tice case:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1130/p01s01-usfp.html
http://waynemadsenreport.com/

=================================
Congressman Christopher Shays
On October 7 Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Jane Harman (D-CA) introduced HR
3985 the Interrogation Procedures Act, to clarify that no individual in US ...
HTTP://www.house.gov/shays/

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