Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protections

Whistleblowing can be defined as the act of reporting waste, fraud, abuse and corruption in a lawful manner to those who can correct the wrongdoing. Intelligence community (IC) whistleblowers are those employees or contractors working in any of the 17 elements of the IC who reasonably believe there has been a violation of law, rule, or regulation; gross mismanagement; waste of resources; abuse of authority; or a substantial danger to public health and safety. The IC has publicly recognized the importance of whistleblowing, and supports protections for whistleblowers who conform to guidelines to protect classified information. The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) whistleblowing policy and guidance is publicly available and specifically addresses the process for making protected disclosures and whistleblower protections for IC contractors, members of the Armed Forces, and federal IC employees. There are differing opinions, however, on whether the ICs internal processes have the transparency necessary to ensure adequate protections against reprisal, and whether protections for IC contractors are sufficient.