Justice Department kept FBI employees in the dark for years about whistleblower protections

A new Government Accountability Office report says that the Justice Department kept FBI employees in the dark for seven years after Congress updated whistleblower protections for bureau personnel in 2016.

The DOJ waited for that long after the passage of the FBI Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act of 2016 to update key regulations within the statute that addressed these new whistleblower protections, the GAO said.

Those new protections, among other things, provided that FBI employees could report or make protected disclosures to supervisors in their direct chain of command.

Until that time, GAO said in its report, some complainants experienced difficulties when making protected disclosures to their supervisors.

The GAO report says that the DOJ closed a higher volume (five times more) of FBI whistleblower retaliation complaints from 2018 to 2022 compared to GAO’s last review of complaints closed from 2009 to 2013.

Additionally, according to the report, FBI employees are currently not being notified of their rights to file with or to appeal to the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, because DOJ components are interpreting the statute differently.

“Statutory changes in fiscal year 2023 provide FBI employees with rights to seek relief from the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board,” the report said.

“However, the amendments contain ambiguities — such as when determinations and corrective action orders are considered final — creating challenges for DOJ in consistently interpreting the new rights. As a result, DOJ is unable to provide clear information to complainants of their rights.”

GAO suggests clarifying the statute to ensure that retaliation complaints by the FBI whistleblowers can appropriately exercise their rights to seek relief from the Protection Board.

The Washington Times reached out to the FBI for comment.

The GAO report was released months after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz released a report flagging the unfair treatment of FBI whistleblowers whose clearances were revoked as retaliation by the bureau.

Previously, FBI whistleblower retaliation complainants could only appeal within DOJ. The Justice Department’s IG, the GAO report says, has a process for reviewing allegations of retaliatory security clearance and access determinations, including suspensions, revocations and denials.

GAO found four FBI whistleblower retaliation complainants alleged retaliatory actions from 2018 through 2023.

However, DOJ’s mandatory training does not mention its Office of the Inspector General review of such retaliatory actions.

The GAO report suggests updating the mandatory DOJ training to ensure individuals know that they may utilize the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General’s review to seek corrective action. Further, GAO found that the DOJ’s policy concerning the review of retaliatory security clearance and access determinations was inconsistent with the statute.