Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: FBI Whistleblower Gets $300,000 -- The Justice Department agreed > Wednesday to pay a $300,000 Privacy Act settlement to > FBI crime lab whistleblower Frederic Whitehurst, who > alleged the government spread false and derogatory > information to discredit him. > > The government also agreed to speed the release to > Whitehurst of 180,000 pages of FBI lab reports by > examiners whose work he had criticized. After his > reinstatement from a yearlong paid suspension last > month, Whitehurst resigned from the bureau to head a > group that will critique the forensic work of the FBI > and other agencies. > > The Associated Press obtained a copy of the Justice > settlement, which is in addition to one Whitehurst > received last month from the FBI. In the earlier > settlement, the FBI agreed to purchase $1.166 million > worth of annuities that will pay the 50-year-old > chemist-agent annual amounts equal to the salary and > pension he would have earned had he kept working until > normal FBI retirement at age 57. The bureau also paid > $258,580 in Whitehurst's legal fees. > > The deal with Justice ends a lawsuit in which Whitehurst > had claimed that, in retaliation for his whistleblowing, > FBI and Justice officials attempted to discredit him by > releasing damaging and incorrect information about him, > his medical condition, his wife, his fitness for duty > and internal investigations of him. > > The government did not admit any violations of > Whitehurst's rights, but the $300,000 settlement is the > largest ever for Privacy Act claims, which usually are > settled for $5,000 or less, said Whitehurt's attorney > Stephen Kohn. But Justice spokesman Bert Brandenburg > said it was not the largest Privacy Act settlement > because under an agremeent that was not writen into the > settlement, more than $50,000 of the money was for > Whitehurst's legal fees. > > ``The settlement payment sends a loud message that you > shouldn't violate a whistleblower's rights to privacy,'' > said Kohn. ``It also is a second good step to addressing > the problems within the FBI crime lab. They recognize > the problems and are dealing with them.'' > > Justice Department spokesman Joseph Krovisky confirmed > the settlement had been reached but had no comment on > it. > > Whitehurst, a lab supervisor who was once the FBI's top > bomb residue expert, complained for 10 years mostly in > vain about lab practices. But his efforts finally led > last April to a scathing 500-page study of the lab by > Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich. > > Bromwich blasted the world-renowned lab for flawed > scientific work and inaccurate, pro-prosecution > testimony in major cases including the Oklahoma City and > World Trade Center bombings. Bromwich recommended major > reforms and discipline for five agents that is still > under consideration. > > But he also accused Whitehurst of making ``overstated > and incendiary'' allegations of intentional misconduct > that Bromwich's investigators did not find, and he > recommended that Whitehurst be transferred to other > duties. > > Whitehurst is completing a rebuttal to that report. In > the settlement, Justice officials agreed that the > Justice Department's Internet website, where Bromwich's > report is posted, also will carry a notice of where to > find electronically or write for Whitehurst's reply. But > the government refused to include an electronic link to > Whitehurst's site. > > In exchange for getting 180,000 pages of lab reports > sped to him under the Freedom of Information Act, > Whitehurst agreed to limit his 1993 and 1995 FOIA > requests to lab reports and trial testimony by 12 FBI > examiners, including some criticized by Bromwich, such > as Thomas Thurman, David Williams and Roger Martz. He > agreed to forego reports from foreign > counterintelligence cases and agreed to refrain from new > FOIA requests for three years. > > The FBI agreed to look again for documents responsive to > his requests for several case files, including the > Unabomber, World Trade Center bombing and Pan Am 103 > bombing cases. > > The settlement did not, however, end a 1997 lawsuit > Whitehurst filed jointly with the National Association > of Criminal Defense Lawyers to obtain working papers > from the Bromwich investigation and documents from the > Justice Department's review of criminal cases to see if > any defendants were harmed by faulty FBI lab evidence or > testimony. > > Whitehurst has become the founding director of the > National Whistleblower Center's Forensic Justice Project > and intends to use all the government documents as part > of its monitoring work. > > The FBI has asserted that no prosecutions will be lost > because of the lab problems. Justice Department > officials have said none have been lost so far but the > final outcome remains to be seen. Government witness > lists were revised in the Oklahoma City bombing and > other prosecutions and at least one count in another > trial was dropped, all after word of lab errors or > mistakes came out. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
