People who work in the executive branch understand that loyalty to the president is part of the job description. While one has the opportunity and privilege to influence national policy, one also must give strong support to the policies that ultimately are adopted. Dissent is not supposed to be shared with outsiders. For those who act otherwise in the Obama administration, retribution can be especially harsh. More executive branch employees have been prosecuted for leaking confidential information by the Obama Justice Department than by all previous Justice Departments combined. And yesterday, the New York Times reported a wide-ranging program of surveillance at the Food and Drug Administration of communications that five FDA scientists had with members of Congress, journalists and professional colleagues. The scientists were critical of FDA procedures for approving new medical devices, claiming that patients were being exposed to excessive risk. It's difficult, even for would-be reformers, to avoid the temptations of the imperial presidency.
Sen. Grassley accuses FDA of possibly illegal spying and retaliation, and of stonewalling his investigation into the same, on orders of someone in the Obama administration, and he vows that he isn't backing down. His statement yesterday from the floor (transcript and video): http://www.whistleblowersblog.org/2012/07/articles/whistleblowers-government-empl/fda-whistleblowers/senator-grassley-hammers-the-fda-on-the-senate-floor/
Posted by: Michelle Meyer | July 18, 2012 at 02:04 PM