This summer, in the course of a bipartisan congressional inquiry into allegations of whistleblower retaliation, a high-ranking federal official forwarded to colleagues a letter from two top lawmakers containing the name of the whistleblower who had accused her of reprisal. The lawmakers had sought to keep that whistleblower’s identity confidential by redacting their name in the public version of the letter. But after a staff member forwarded their boss, Commerce Inspector General Peggy Gustafson, an unredacted version of the letter accusing her of reprisal, Gustafson then circulated it to others within her office. Her employees shared this sensitive information even more widely within, and eventually beyond, the agency.
The previously unreported exposure has prompted rebukes from lawmakers in a string of congressional correspondence over the last few months.
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This is far from the first time that a confidential whistleblower’s identity has been put at risk, but this violation is particularly serious as it involves Gustafson, the Commerce Department’s top watchdog official, who by law has special obligations to protect whistleblower confidentiality.
“As an Inspector General, you must understand the importance of protecting whistleblower anonymity as well as the fact that purposefully disclosing a whistleblower’s identity can, in some circumstances, constitute a violation of law,”...
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