Latest News and Efforts from the Government Accountability ProjectMeet GAP's "Talking Heads"

29 May 2003 15:00:00 -0000

<h1>Meet GAP's &#34;Talking Heads&#34;</h1><br><br><b>Martin Edwin Andersen</b><br><br><i><i><b>GAP staff roster is heavy with expertise on issues
of government and corporate accountability, oversight</i></b>
</i><br><br><br><br><i><b>Release date: May 29, 2003</b>
<p>
<p>

For More Information:
 									 Martin Edwin Andersen, 
Tel: (202) 408-0034, ext. 143

The Government Accountability Project (GAP), the country's leading whistleblower protection organization with offices in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, Washington, does more than just provide state-of-the-art representation to some of the country's highest profile whistleblowers in government, industry and in the international arena. GAP staff also include some of the most quotable, and often recognized, experts in areas ranging from nuclear and food safety, to homeland security and corporate accountability.

In May alone, GAP spokespersons have been cited in major media outlets throughout the country. The issues they addressed included government's flawed meat inspection system; security breakdowns at nuclear research laboratories, just miles from major population centers, and the National Forest Service's disastrous environmental policies. GAP also made a special plea to President George W. Bush to name genuine whistleblower advocates to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency that--in the absence of enforceable laws protecting federal workers--is the last and only hope for justice.

In June, GAP plans to make major announcements about several of its public policy initiatives. These include an effort designed to expand the "state of the art" whistleblower protections in the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability act of 2002 to private companies and federal government employees. (At a recent seminar on whistleblower rights given at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, GAP Executive Director Louis Clark noted the legislation offered protection for whistle-blowers in publicly traded companies who report violations of federal law, including securities and shareholder fraud. However, Clark noted, federal employees have little protection from retaliation.) 

Other GAP initiatives include efforts to strengthen the rights of nuclear weapons whistleblowers and those in civil aviation; as well ensuring the safety of food fed to Washington, D.C. school children. If you are interested in these or other issues, please contact us at our Washington, D.C. office (phone number listed above), or at our Seattle office (tel. 206-292-2850). 

Below is a list of GAP staff currently working on issues that are sure to be of interest to your medium. Please feel free to contact them when you need the latest "scoop" or perspective on those matters of interest to your audience or readers.


STEPHANI AYERS, litigation associate, holds a J.D. from George Washington University Law School and a B.A. from Harvard University. Ayers previously worked with Earthjustice and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and has written "how to" manuals for using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act in the public interest. (Seattle office)

TOM CARPENTER, GAP, nuclear program director, has for more than two decades been on the front lines of issues ranging from workplace safety to homeland security at nuclear power plants, research laboratories and other facilities both in the United States and overseas. Most recently, Carpenter has successfully represented security guards at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore research facilities who blew the whistle on systematic vulnerabilities to terrorist attack and espionage. He has also helped lead the fight to force the Department of Energy to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington. In addition, Carpenter has traveled several times to the former Soviet Union to help GAP partners there exercise greater oversight of those countries' nuclear facilities.(Seattle office.)

LOUIS CLARK became GAP's chief in 1978, after having served previously as its legal counsel. Clark received his J.D. from American University in 1977 and also holds a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. In 1992, Clark received the Gleitsman Award for his life-long commitment to initiating, promoting and implementing positive forms of social change. A frequent speaker on individual moral courage, ethics and whistleblower rights at major U.S. universities, most recently, Clark has been instrumental in the creation of GAP's corporate accountability project. He is a founding board member of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) (Washington, D.C. office)

TOM DEVINE, GAP legal director, has worked been a whistleblower advocate for more than two decades. Known as "Mr. Soundbite" in the NGO community, Devine regularly appears in major media coverage ranging from homeland security issues to food safety and environmental policy. Author of The Whistleblower's Survival Guide, Devine has served as counsel on every major whistleblower law passed at the federal level since the 1980s. He is also the author of the whistleblower provisions of the Organization of American States' (OAS) model anti-corruption law. Devine regularly appears before international audiences to speak about whistleblower protection, occupational free speech and national security. (Washington, D.C. office)

JOHN MACKNIGHT FITZGERALD, GAP's acting international director, holds a J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law (1977) and has served both as the communications director for the National Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and as a senior advisor on environmental issues on Capitol Hill. Before coming to GAP, Fitzgerald worked as an environmental policy analyst at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Due to his whistleblowing disclosures on the failure of the federal government to obey U.S. law concerning environmental policy and loans from U.S.-funded multilateral development banks (MDBs), Fitzgerald's government employment was terminated in 2002. (Washington, D.C. office)

THAD GUYER,, GAP litigation director, holds a J.D. from the Antioch School of Law (1978) and has a long association with GAP, both as a private attorney or in his current position. He has been an active practicioner in the U.S. Supreme Court, give U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the administrative law courts of the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) and the U.S. Department of Labor. (Seattle office)

DOUG HARTNETT, GAP's National Security Campaign Director, received his J.D. from the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. Over the past four years, Hartnett has developed special expertise in defending the most vulnerable of whistleblowers -- those who expose national security breakdowns. Ironically, secrecy is often abused as a shield to hide security weaknesses. In these cases, the whistleblower is silenced by management yanking his security clearance and thereby branding him or her as unfit to work with classified information. (Washington, DC office)

RICHARD MILLER, a GAP policy analyst, is a recognized expert on compensation for Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons workers. Formerly with the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union, Miller watchdogs DOE, and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services in the implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. Miller maintains constant contact with victims and tracks legislation. He also tracks DOE ES&H issues. (Washington, D.C. office)

FELICIA NESTOR, GAP’s food safety project director and an attorney with a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, is a recognized expert on United States Department of Agriculture’s meat and poultry inspection system. For eight years, Nestor has been analyzing government records and working with hundreds of federal inspectors nationwide to expose threats to the public from inadequate food safety regulations, lax government enforcement, inspection programs based on phony science, and Mad Cow Disease. Repeatedly, her reports have created public pressure for oversight investigations and policy change, and help to explain the increasing number of recalls of dangerous meat and poultry products. In 2001, she co-founded the Global Safe Food Alliance, a coalition of food safety, environmental, rural development and animal rights groups. Recently she acquired and delivered to Congress inspection records which USDA was withholding, She continues to investigate and expose USDA cover-ups. (Contact: 201-330-1618)

JOANNE ROYCE, a GAP senior litigator, received her JD from the University of Florida Holland Law Center. She received a Master of Laws degree in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University. Ms. Royce has been with GAP for ten years and specializes in whistleblower litigation in connection with environmental, worker health and safety and corporate issues. (Washington, D.C. office)

GREG WOLK, staff attorney, has devoted the last 12 years to effecting accountability through governmental and corporate governance reform, having both practiced environmental law in Seattle and helping to establish an independent media center in Prague, the Czech Republic. A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Washington School of Law, Wolk’s academic background focused on the impact and utility of legal as well as domestic and international policy considerations concerning governance reform and accountability issues. Wolk currently handles appeals and litigates on behalf of whistleblowers at nuclear weapons facilities. (Seattle office)

		<br><br>If you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, please send an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. To one of the addresses below.<br><br>If you are recieving these emails from <a href=mailto:gap-general-list-request@whistleblower.org>gap-general-list@whistleblower.org</a><br><br>If you are recieving these emails from <a href=mailto:gap-media-request@whistleblower.org>gap-media-list@whistleblower.org</a><br><h1>Meet GAP's &#34;Talking Heads&#34;</h1><br><br><b>Martin Edwin Andersen</b><br><br><i><i><b>GAP staff roster is heavy with expertise on issues
of government and corporate accountability, oversight</i></b>
</i><br><br><br><br><i><b>Release date: May 29, 2003</b>
<p>
<p>

For More Information:
 									 Martin Edwin Andersen, 
Tel: (202) 408-0034, ext. 143

The Government Accountability Project (GAP), the country's leading whistleblower protection organization with offices in Washington, D.C., and Seattle, Washington, does more than just provide state-of-the-art representation to some of the country's highest profile whistleblowers in government, industry and in the international arena. GAP staff also include some of the most quotable, and often recognized, experts in areas ranging from nuclear and food safety, to homeland security and corporate accountability.

In May alone, GAP spokespersons have been cited in major media outlets throughout the country. The issues they addressed included government's flawed meat inspection system; security breakdowns at nuclear research laboratories, just miles from major population centers, and the National Forest Service's disastrous environmental policies. GAP also made a special plea to President George W. Bush to name genuine whistleblower advocates to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, the independent federal agency that--in the absence of enforceable laws protecting federal workers--is the last and only hope for justice.

In June, GAP plans to make major announcements about several of its public policy initiatives. These include an effort designed to expand the "state of the art" whistleblower protections in the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate accountability act of 2002 to private companies and federal government employees. (At a recent seminar on whistleblower rights given at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, GAP Executive Director Louis Clark noted the legislation offered protection for whistle-blowers in publicly traded companies who report violations of federal law, including securities and shareholder fraud. However, Clark noted, federal employees have little protection from retaliation.) 

Other GAP initiatives include efforts to strengthen the rights of nuclear weapons whistleblowers and those in civil aviation; as well ensuring the safety of food fed to Washington, D.C. school children. If you are interested in these or other issues, please contact us at our Washington, D.C. office (phone number listed above), or at our Seattle office (tel. 206-292-2850). 

Below is a list of GAP staff currently working on issues that are sure to be of interest to your medium. Please feel free to contact them when you need the latest "scoop" or perspective on those matters of interest to your audience or readers.


STEPHANI AYERS, litigation associate, holds a J.D. from George Washington University Law School and a B.A. from Harvard University. Ayers previously worked with Earthjustice and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and has written "how to" manuals for using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Federal Advisory Committee Act in the public interest. (Seattle office)

TOM CARPENTER, GAP, nuclear program director, has for more than two decades been on the front lines of issues ranging from workplace safety to homeland security at nuclear power plants, research laboratories and other facilities both in the United States and overseas. Most recently, Carpenter has successfully represented security guards at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore research facilities who blew the whistle on systematic vulnerabilities to terrorist attack and espionage. He has also helped lead the fight to force the Department of Energy to clean up the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington. In addition, Carpenter has traveled several times to the former Soviet Union to help GAP partners there exercise greater oversight of those countries' nuclear facilities.(Seattle office.)

LOUIS CLARK became GAP's chief in 1978, after having served previously as its legal counsel. Clark received his J.D. from American University in 1977 and also holds a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. In 1992, Clark received the Gleitsman Award for his life-long commitment to initiating, promoting and implementing positive forms of social change. A frequent speaker on individual moral courage, ethics and whistleblower rights at major U.S. universities, most recently, Clark has been instrumental in the creation of GAP's corporate accountability project. He is a founding board member of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) (Washington, D.C. office)

TOM DEVINE, GAP legal director, has worked been a whistleblower advocate for more than two decades. Known as "Mr. Soundbite" in the NGO community, Devine regularly appears in major media coverage ranging from homeland security issues to food safety and environmental policy. Author of The Whistleblower's Survival Guide, Devine has served as counsel on every major whistleblower law passed at the federal level since the 1980s. He is also the author of the whistleblower provisions of the Organization of American States' (OAS) model anti-corruption law. Devine regularly appears before international audiences to speak about whistleblower protection, occupational free speech and national security. (Washington, D.C. office)

JOHN MACKNIGHT FITZGERALD, GAP's acting international director, holds a J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law (1977) and has served both as the communications director for the National Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) and as a senior advisor on environmental issues on Capitol Hill. Before coming to GAP, Fitzgerald worked as an environmental policy analyst at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Due to his whistleblowing disclosures on the failure of the federal government to obey U.S. law concerning environmental policy and loans from U.S.-funded multilateral development banks (MDBs), Fitzgerald's government employment was terminated in 2002. (Washington, D.C. office)

THAD GUYER,, GAP litigation director, holds a J.D. from the Antioch School of Law (1978) and has a long association with GAP, both as a private attorney or in his current position. He has been an active practicioner in the U.S. Supreme Court, give U.S. Courts of Appeal, and the administrative law courts of the Merit System Protection Board (MSPB) and the U.S. Department of Labor. (Seattle office)

DOUG HARTNETT, GAP's National Security Campaign Director, received his J.D. from the David A. Clarke School of Law at the University of the District of Columbia. Over the past four years, Hartnett has developed special expertise in defending the most vulnerable of whistleblowers -- those who expose national security breakdowns. Ironically, secrecy is often abused as a shield to hide security weaknesses. In these cases, the whistleblower is silenced by management yanking his security clearance and thereby branding him or her as unfit to work with classified information. (Washington, DC office)

RICHARD MILLER, a GAP policy analyst, is a recognized expert on compensation for Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear weapons workers. Formerly with the Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union, Miller watchdogs DOE, and the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services in the implementation of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act of 2000. Miller maintains constant contact with victims and tracks legislation. He also tracks DOE ES&H issues. (Washington, D.C. office)

FELICIA NESTOR, GAP’s food safety project director and an attorney with a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, is a recognized expert on United States Department of Agriculture’s meat and poultry inspection system. For eight years, Nestor has been analyzing government records and working with hundreds of federal inspectors nationwide to expose threats to the public from inadequate food safety regulations, lax government enforcement, inspection programs based on phony science, and Mad Cow Disease. Repeatedly, her reports have created public pressure for oversight investigations and policy change, and help to explain the increasing number of recalls of dangerous meat and poultry products. In 2001, she co-founded the Global Safe Food Alliance, a coalition of food safety, environmental, rural development and animal rights groups. Recently she acquired and delivered to Congress inspection records which USDA was withholding, She continues to investigate and expose USDA cover-ups. (Contact: 201-330-1618)

JOANNE ROYCE, a GAP senior litigator, received her JD from the University of Florida Holland Law Center. She received a Master of Laws degree in International and Comparative Law from Georgetown University. Ms. Royce has been with GAP for ten years and specializes in whistleblower litigation in connection with environmental, worker health and safety and corporate issues. (Washington, D.C. office)

GREG WOLK, staff attorney, has devoted the last 12 years to effecting accountability through governmental and corporate governance reform, having both practiced environmental law in Seattle and helping to establish an independent media center in Prague, the Czech Republic. A graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Washington School of Law, Wolk’s academic background focused on the impact and utility of legal as well as domestic and international policy considerations concerning governance reform and accountability issues. Wolk currently handles appeals and litigates on behalf of whistleblowers at nuclear weapons facilities. (Seattle office)

		<br><br>If you no longer wish to receive these e-mails, please send an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. To one of the addresses below.<br><br>If you are recieving these emails from <a href=mailto:gap-general-list-request@whistleblower.org>gap-general-list@whistleblower.org</a><br><br>If you are recieving these emails from <a href=mailto:gap-media-request@whistleblower.org>gap-media-list@whistleblower.org</a><br>

Latest News and Efforts from the Government Accountability ProjectMeet GAP's &#34;Talking Heads&#34;

Latest News and Efforts from the Government Accountability ProjectMeet GAP's "Talking Heads"