National Whistleblower Day

July 30 is National Whistleblower Day! Whistleblowing in the United States dates back to the very founding of our nation. Stephen Kohn, partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, rediscovered the story of some of the first whistleblowers while conducting original historical research for his book, The New Whistleblower’s Handbook.

In 1777, ten sailors and marines met to blow the whistle on the commander of the Continental Navy, Commodore Esek Hopkins, for his mistreatment of British prisoners. Their reports led the Continental Congress to pass America’s first whistleblower law on July 30, 1778.

After Kohn’s discovery, the U.S. Senate, led by Chairman of the bipartisan Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus Senator Charles Grassley, enacted a resolution to mark July 30 as National Whistleblower Appreciation Day. The resolution calls on all U.S. agencies to recognize whistleblowers and celebrate National Whistleblower Appreciation Day.

TED Talk on The Untold Story of The Whistleblowers of 1777

Read the Whistleblower Law of 1778

Senate Resolution Honor the Day (2013)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day(2014)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day (2015)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day (2016)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day (2017)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day (2018)

House Resolution Honoring the Day (2019)

Senate Resolution Honoring the Day (2019)

Stephen M. Kohn, The New York Times, “The Whistle-Blowers of 1777” (June 12, 2011)

Click here for more information on National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Bipartisan Members Of The Senate And House Speak

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Founder and chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus talks about the history of whistleblower laws and the importance of continuing to protect courageous whistleblowers in his remarks as the keynote speaker.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Vice-chairman of the Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus

Senator James Lankford (R-Oklahoma)

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin)

Representative Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland)

Representative Mark Meadows (R-North Carolina)

Representative Kathleen Rice (D-New York)

Representative Jackie Speier (D-California)

Representative Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam)

Agency And NGO Leaders Speak

Michael Horowitz – Inspector General, Department of Justice

Dr. Gina Greene, Former Vice President of the Nature Conservancy; Daniel Ashe, Former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Beth Allgood, the US Country Director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare

Whistleblowers Speak

Linda Tripp, White House whistleblower

Dr. Aaron Westrick, Second Chance Body Armor whistleblower

Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, FBI whistleblower

Jane Turner, FBI whistleblower

Sherron Watkins, Enron whistleblower

Eugene Ross, Bear Stearns whistleblower

Sheila White, Burlington Northern & Santa Fe railway company whistleblower

KKC Partners Speak At National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

Stephen Kohn – 2019

David Colapinto – 2015

The First Annual Congressional Celebration of National Whistleblower Appreciation Day

FBI Director James Comey’s remarks in 2016