Top Whistleblower Attorney Leads Capitol Hill “Whistleblower 101” Panel

On Thursday, May 31, the bipartisan Whistleblower Protection Caucus hosted a panel discussion that featured whistleblower advocates from the Department of Justice, Office of the Special Counsel, National Security Agency, and Project on Government Oversight. Leading whistleblower expert, Stephen M. Kohn, moderated the “Whistleblower 101” workshop held in the Rayburn House Office Building.

Capitol Hill staff members and other public officials were in the audience, some had blown the whistle themselves and came to share their stories. The topics discussed ranged from holding agency heads in the federal government accountable and treating whistleblowers like the “invaluable source” they are. The panelists made clear that protecting whistleblowers directly leads to more cases of detecting fraud and corruption in the federal environment. “The biggest issue with whistleblowing is it is not understood,” Kohn said. “Most hear about it in newspapers or on the internet but don’t understand how vital the whistleblower is.”

A leading objective of the morning was to promote a better understanding of whistleblowing and its value to government agencies in rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse. The panelist addressed Kohn’s point about the lack of public knowledge about whistleblowing and mentioned a need for a “change in the culture” surrounding whistleblowing.

Audience members spilled into the hallway as the room overflowed as soon as the panelist began to speak. During the question and answer session, several members of the audience stood up and shared their whistleblowing experiences and the retaliation that followed.

As he wrapped up the event, Kohn left the audience with an important message; “Whistleblowing is the number one source of all fraud detection. Period. You have to protect your most valuable resource: the whistleblower.”

Kohn is a partner in the whistleblower rights law firm of Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto and the pro bono executive director of the National Whistleblower Center (www.whistleblowers.org) in Washington, D.C. Kohn is the author of the highly respected The New Whistleblower’s Handbook (Lyons Press, 2017).