Posted on 01/12/2006 5:21:21 PM PST by RedBloodedAmerican
WASHINGTON—The National Security Agency fired a high level intelligence official just days after he publicly urged Congress to pass stronger protections for federal whistleblowers facing retaliation.
Russ Tice, 43, who was once nominated for an award by the agency for his intelligence work on Iraq, was informed Tuesday that his security clearances had been permanently revoked and that he could no longer work at the secretive intelligence agency known for its eavesdropping and code-breaking capabilities.
Tice has been at the odds with the agency since he reported suspicions that a female co-worker at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), was a spy for the People's Republic of China.
Tice, a 20-year veteran of the federal intelligence agencies, worked at DIA until 2002. He made his initial report about the suspected spy at DIA after noticing that a co-worker voiced sympathies for China, traveled extensively abroad and displayed affluence beyond her means.
Last week, Tice joined other federal employees from national security agencies on Capitol Hill to raise concerns that whistleblowers are being punished for stepping forward. The whistleblowers pointed out that the 1989 Whistleblower Protection Act does not cover federal employees who work in the nation's intelligence community.
" In a time of danger, literally brought to our very shores, abuses such as these, should not be tolerated," said Tice, speaking at a press conference following a meeting with congressional staffers.
Is there a connection between his public speech last week and his termination?
Sibel Edmonds, the leader of the newly formed National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, believes so.
"They try to use the fear factor: Don't go to the Congress. If you do, this is what will happen to you," said Edmonds, who was fired by the FBI in 2002 after reporting suspected espionage and misconduct. "By doing this they send a chilling message to anyone who wants to step forward."
Edmonds vowed to help find legal representation for Tice. The Defense Department's Inspector General's Civil Reprisal Investigations unit is also examining his claims of retaliation.
In June, 2003, the agency suspended his security clearances and ordered him to maintain the agency's vehicles by pumping gas and cleaning them. Last month, they ordered him to unload furniture at its warehouses.
Tice's firing raises concerns for all federal whistleblowers, said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group based in Washington. "To receive this type of humiliation is a terrible message to anyone else who is handling the very important work that they do."
In response to requests for comment, the NSA sent an e-mail stating that the "NSA has no information to provide about personnel matters and does not comment on actual or alleged case facts regarding current or former affiliates."
In an interview, Tice said his statements last week, "hastened the process," but he had expected it for some time.
In April 2003, Tice sent an e-mail to the DIA agent handling his suspicions about a co-worker being a Chinese spy. He was prompted to do so by a news report about two FBI agents who were arrested for giving classified information to a Chinese double agent.
"At the time, I sent an e-mail to Mr. James (the person at DIA handling his complaint) questioning the competence of counterintelligence at FBI," Tice wrote in a document submitted to the Inspector General. In the e-mail, he mentioned that he suspected that he was the subject of electronic monitoring.
Shortly after sending the e-mail, an NSA security officer ordered him to report for "a psychological evaluation" even though he had just gone through one nine months earlier. Tice believes James called NSA to ask them "to go after him" on their behalf.
When Tice called Mr. James to confront him about calling the NSA security official, he told Tice that "there was reason to be concerned" about his suspicion about his former co-worker.
The Defense Department psychologist concluded that Tice suffered from psychotic paranoia, according to Tice. "He did this even though he admitted that I did not show any of the normal indications of someone suffering from paranoia," Tice wrote in a statement to the inspector general.
"I knew my from that day that my career was over," said Tice, who has worked in intelligence since he graduated from the University of Maryland in 1985. His job at NSA was so top secret that he could not even reveal his title.
In the summer of 2003, Tice told the NSA that he was considering talking to his congressional representatives about waste and abuse at NSA security. He was told that he would face retaliation if he did so, Tice wrote in his statement to the inspector general.
A few weeks after contacting Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., the retaliation intensified, he said. The NSA even sent an agent to his home to "threaten me in person with unspecified actions if I went to the press," Tice said.
In August 2004, the agency suspended Tice's clearance. They sent him to the "motor pool' for eight months where he was assigned to fill up NSA vehicles with gas, check fluids and drive around "the bigwigs," on occasion, Tice said in an interview.
He was then put on administrative leave for 14 months. Last month he was re-assigned to the NSA's warehouse where he was ordered to unload furniture from trucks.
"I reported my suspicion and got blown off," Tice said. "I pushed the issue and that ticked them off, the fact that I questioned their almighty wisdom."
On the Web:
Project on Government Oversight: www.pogo.org
Tice, Russ; Former Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, Air Force, Naval Intelligence, DIA and NSA
Russ Tice worked technical intelligence issues as an all-source analyst, systems instructor, special programs expert, technical missions operations action officer, tasking agent, field intelligence on-site analyst and liaison, and advanced capabilities officer. Known as a stickler for technical detailed analysis and “by the book” on security regs. After returning from a temporary overseas assignment in 2001, he observed that a DIA coworker exhibited the classic signs of involvement in espionage. After quietly reporting this, his suspicion was quickly dismissed by DIA’s counterintelligence (CI) office. He continued to observe activity to suggest there was a problem and reported such. He returned to the National Security Agency and, busy with the Iraqi War, dropped the issue. When noting a report that FBI CI agents availed secrets to a China source for sex, he questioned the FBI’s competence. NSA retaliated by having him declared crazy, revoking his security clearance, and terminating his employment in May 2005.
Maybe it's classified info?
No. I'm behind on this story. I was busy today.
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 27, 2005 2:15 PM |
CONTACT: National Security Whistleblowers Coalition Sibel Edmonds, (703) 519-3640, sibeldeniz@aol.com |
National Security Whistleblowers Coalition: Congress, Whistleblower Protection & Accountability |
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WASHINGTON -- April 27 -- What: An unprecedented group of national security whistleblowers have formed a united front as the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC). They will collectively attend two bipartisan congressional meetings today to demand that Congress act to end government retaliation against those who expose national security blunders, that Congress hold hearings into the federal governmenta's actions against whistleblowers, and that Congress act to require individual accountability for retaliation against whistleblowers. The congressional meetings will be followed by a press conference featuring speakers from the NSWBC and guest speakers.
Speakers: Sibel Edmonds, Former Language Specialist, FBI Coleen Rowley, Retired Agent and former division counsel, FBI John Vincent, Veteran Special Agent, FBI Mike German, Veteran Special Agent, FBI Russ Tice, Senior Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, NSA Jesselyn Radack, Former Counsel, DOJ
Guest Speakers: Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) Mark Zaid, attorney, Krieger Zaid LLC Professor William Weaver, University of Texas Danielle Brian, Director, Project on Government Oversight (POGO) Tom Devine, Legal Director, Government Accountability Project (GAP) Dan Ellsberg, Founder, Truth Telling Project
Date: Thursday, April 28 Time: 1:30 PM- 3:00PM Location: 122 Cannon House Office Building, SE, Washington, DC
Background: Since the September 11th terrorist attacks, whistleblowers have felt compelled to come forward in greater numbers to address our nation's security weaknesses in fact almost 50% more have sought protection annually under the Whistleblower Protection Act since that terrible event. However, patriotic truth-tellers across a variety of federal agencies have no protection against retaliation when they blow the whistle. Today, the federal government's policies support and reinforce wrongdoers who would seek to silence whistleblowers by demoting them, taking away their security clearances, or firing them. In recent days that point was illustrated in the case of FBI Special Agent Robert Wright, who has been critical of the efforts to pursue terrorists. Without whistleblower protections, agencies will continue to quash truth tellers and national security weaknesses will be allowed to fester underneath the growing cloak of secrecy.
1. Anderson, Mick, Former Senior Advisor for Policy, DOJ, |
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Was he once a toilet brush?
The looney left is stealing our reputation as being tinfoil hatters. I am offended.
NSWBC Networking Partners
Project on Government Oversight (POGO)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC)
Veteran Affairs Whistleblowers Coalition (VAWBC)
NSWBC Members (To view members bios click here.... )
Bergman, Bill, Former Senior Financial Market Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Bigelow, Steve, Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Joint Chiefs of Staff, J-33
Bittler, Thomas, Training Coordinator, TSA-DHS
Black, P. Jeffrey, Federal Air Marshal (FAMS), TSA/DHS
Carman, John, Former Senior Inspector, U.S. Customs
Carpenter, Shawn, Member of Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories
Chudson, Jonathan, Former Special Agents, IG-Office, EPA
Cleary, Kevin J., Senior Special Agent, U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security/ICE & U.S. Customs Service (O.I.)
Cole, John M., Former Veteran Intelligence Operations Specialist, FBI
Conrad, David “Mark”, Retired Agent in Charge, Internal Affairs, U.S. Customs
Connolly, Frank, Senior Screening Manager @ Buffalo, TSA
Copley, James, Project Manager, DOE
Costello, Edward J. Jr., Former Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI
Cruse, Larry, Army Intelligence Analyst, DOD
Davidson, Kathaleen, Nuclear Security Training Coordinator, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station
Dzakovic, Bogdan, Former Red Team Leader, FAA
Edmonds, Sibel, Former Language Specialist, FBI
Ellsberg, Dan, Former Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense (ISA), DOD
Elson, Steve, Veteran Agent, FAA
Forbes, David, Aviation, Logistics and Govt. Security Analysts
Gonzalez, Sandalio, Retired Federal Agent, DEA
Goodman, Melvin A., Former Senior Analyst/ Division Manager, CIA; Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy
Guagliardi, Ray, training coordinator, TSA-DHS
Hirsch, Daniel M., Foreign Service Officer, Department of State
Hnatio, John, Former International Program Manager, DNN, NNSA & DOE
Jenkins, Steve, Intelligence Analyst, NGIC, US Army
Johnson, Larry, Deputy Director- Counterterrorism, Department of State; Analyst,CIA
Kwiatkowski, Karen U., Lt. Col. USAF (ret.), Veteran Policy Analyst-DOD
Lau, Lok, Former Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI
Levine, Michael, Retired Supervisory Special Agent/Covert Operations Specialist, DEA
Lipsky, John, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI
Mansour, Joe, Occupational Safety Specialist, Federal Bureau of Prisons
MacMichael, David, Former Senior Estimates Officer, CIA
McGovern, Raymond L., Former Analyst, CIA
McInerney, Cullen, Supervisory Special Agent, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Federal Air Marshal Service
Nunn, Sandy, Former Special Agent, US Customs
Pahle, Theodore J., Senior Intelligence Officer (Ret), DIA
Price, Paul, Language Analyst, NSA
Russell, William H., Computer Specialist, R & E Division, NSA
Sarshar, Behrooz, Retired Language Specialist, FBI
Savich, William, Special Agent, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Department of State
Shaffer, Anthony Allen, Lieutenant Colonel, Senior Operations Officer, DIA-DOD
Springmann, Mike, Foreign Service Officer-5; Second Secretary & Vice Consul, Department of State
Starns, Robert, Special Agent in Charge, Diplomatic Security Service, Department of State
Stella, Marie V., Retired Lead Information System Security Officer, FAA
Stroup, Jay, Former Federal Security Director, TSA
Sullivan, Brian, Special Agent, Risk Program Management Specialist, FAA
Tice, Russ, Senior Intelligence Analyst & Action Officer, NSA
Tortorich, Larry J., Retired Naval Officer, US Navy & Dept. of Homeland Security/TSA,
Turner, Jane, Veteran Special Agent, FBI
Vincent, John, Veteran Special Agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
Walp, Glenn, PhD, Former Office Leader of the Office of Security Inquiries, Los Alamos National Lab, DOE
Woo, Robert, Special Agent, Counterintelligence, FBI
Wright, Robert, Veteran Special agent, Counterterrorism, FBI
"Tice, a 20-year veteran of the federal intelligence agencies, worked at DIA until 2002. He made his initial report about the suspected spy at DIA after noticing that a co-worker voiced sympathies for China, traveled extensively abroad and displayed affluence beyond her means."
Good grief. A Who's Who of disgruntled employees.
And bush haters all.
VIPS
He sounds racist towards people with yellow skin. And yet the boneheads attacking Alito probably used him as a source for their questions. But...I thought Alito was the racist one?
hehe. I wonder what party those names donate to at opensecrets.org
I know its no big deal and off topic, but Kennedy had Vanguard mutual funds recently.
Hardball is on again now!
got it. has tice been already on?
My inclination after listening to him is that he didn't come across as a flake. He was forthright and answered the questions given him. Matthews grilled him pretty hard. I'm withholding judgment until this is heard behind closed doors.
I'm still in favor of the current program regardless. I think we ought to do everything possible to ferret out terrorists. I'm sure if they pick up one of my conversations on the phone they are likely to go to sleep listening to what is being said.
no, he's next
It's near the beginning of the interview of Tice that Mathspews draws a parallel between the NSA "spy scandal" and cold war era Russia's tactics and Tice readily and eagerly agrees to Chrissy's inane drivel.
I'm going to listen.
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