Government Accountability Project Inc

SEE SCHEDULE O

PUBLIC HEALTH & CORPORATE/GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OUR FOOD INTEGRITY CAMPAIGN (FIC) IS A CENTRAL COMPONENT OF OUR PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY PROGRAM. IN 2021, WE CONTINUED TO BE A LEADER IN THE EFFORTS TO EXPOSE DEADLY INSPECTION MODERNIZATION TO THE PUBLIC AND WORKED BOTH INDEPENDENTLY AND WITH COALITIONS TO PUT PRESSURE ON THE USDA TO STOP THE PROLIFERATION OF THESE RULES. AS A RESULT, LINE SPEEDS WERE GREATLY CURTAILED IN 2021. WE COLLABORATED WITH THE CENTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SYSTEMS AT VERMONT LAW SCHOOL TO RESEARCH IF THE ANTI-RETALIATION PROTECTIONS IN THE PACKERS AND STOCKYARDS STOCKYARDS ACT CAN BE EXPANDED THROUGH RULEMAKING AS OPPOSED TO LEGISLATION. OUR COLLABORATION WITH THE VERMONT LAW SCHOOL CLINIC, GROWERS FROM MISSISSIPPI AND TEXAS SANDERSON FARMS, AND THE USDA ON THE PROCESS IS ONGOING. WE HAVE ADVOCATED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WHISTLEBLOWER PROTECTION LEGISLATION TO ENCOURAGE LOW WAGE AGRICULTURAL WHISTLEBLOWERS TO COME FORWARD. THE NEW PUBLIC POLICY SHOULD ALLOW FOR TREBLE ACTUAL OR COMPENSATORY DAMAGE CLAIMS AGAINST COMPANIES THAT RETALIATE AND ESTABLISH AN AWARDS PROGRAM TO PAY WHISTLEBLOWERS BASED ON FINES OR FINANCIAL RECOVERIES STEMMING FROM INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THOSE WHISTLEBLOWERS. FIC AND JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CONTINUED TO STRATEGICALLY DEVELOP OUR JOINT EFFORT IN COLLABORATION WITH THE JOHNS HOPKINS TOXICOLOGY POLICY PROGRAM KNOWN AS THE CENTER FOR LAW & ETHICS IN ANIMAL RESEARCH, OR CLEAR. POSTDOCS ARE ASSISTING US WITH OUR REVIEW OF ANIMAL RESEARCH GUIDANCE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A KNOW YOUR RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FOCUSED ON POTENTIAL WHISTLEBLOWERS. WE ALSO REPRESENTED CONFIDENTIAL CLIENTS THROUGH THIS PROGRAM. WE REPRESENTED OVER 30 CLIENTS AT AT VOICE OF AMERICA (VOA) AT THE UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR GLOBAL MEDIA WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE ON ATTEMPTS BY FORMER ADMINISTRATION APPOINTEES TO TURN THE NEWS SERVICE INTO A FRONT FOR NATIONALIST PROPAGANDA. OUR CLIENTS THROUGHOUT THE VOA HAD ALL EXPERIENCED WORKPLACE RETALIATION, INCLUDING FIRING IN SOME CASES, AS A RESULT OF THEIR WHISTLEBLOWING. WITH OUR ASSISTANCE, THE WRONGDOERS WERE REMOVED, AND ALL OF OUR CLIENTS WERE RESTORED TO THEIR FORMER POSITIONS OR TO HIGHER ONES. WE REPRESENTED WHISTLEBLOWERS ON THE POLITICIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ANTITRUST DIVISION UNDER THE FORMER ADMINISTRATION, WHICH TOOK THE FORM OF POLITICALLY MOTIVATED ANTITRUST INVESTIGATIONS WHERE THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY THEM. ONE SUCH INVESTIGATION TARGETED AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS WHO VOLUNTARILY COMPLIED WITH CALIFORNIA'S ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS.

ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE OUR ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAM COLLABORATED WITH OUR FOOD INTEGRITY CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERDEPENDENCE BETWEEN CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY, WATER, FOOD, AND PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS. A CORE COMPONENT OF THIS EFFORT IS OUR WORK TO EXPOSE THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH DANGERS INHERENT IN THE CAFO (CONCENTRATED ANIMAL FEEDING OPERATION) SYSTEM AND FALSE SOLUTIONS SUCH AS BIOGAS. IN 2021 WE COLLABORATED WITH PARTNERS IN FRONTLINE COMMUNITIES TO DEMAND TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY. WE REPRESENTED SEVERAL WHISTLEBLOWERS AT THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE ON SAFETY AND QUALITY ASSURANCE FAILURES. WE COLLABORATED WITH THE PRODUCERS OF THE HIT DOCUMENTARY SERIES MELTDOWN (AVAILABLE TO VIEW ON NETFLIX)TO SHARE THE STORIES OF OUR CLIENTS WHO BLEW THE WHISTLE ON THE THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR DISASTER CLEANUP OPERATIONS IN THE 1980S. WE REPRESENTED A CLIENT WHO WAS FIRED FROM THEIR POSITION AT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA) AFTER BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON THE MASSIVE CORRUPTION OF FORMER EPA DIRECTOR SCOTT PRUITT, INCLUDING: HIS FIRST-CLASS AIR TRAVEL; THE CREATION OF AN OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE SOUNDPROOF BOOTH IN HIS OFFICE; AND THE USE OF AN APARTMENT IN WASHINGTON, DC, WHICH WAS LARGELY UNDERWRITTEN BY A FIRM DOING SIGNIFICANT BUSINESS WITH THE EPA. WE REPRESENTED A CLIENT WHO EXPERIENCED RETALIATION AFTER BLOWING THE WHISTLE AT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR ABOUT OIL DRILLING SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES.

NATIONAL SECURITY OUR STAFF ENGAGED IN INVESTIGATIVE RESEARCH AND JOURNALISM INTO CORRUPTION THREATENING OUR NATIONAL SECURITY AS WELL AS INTERNATIONAL STABILITY. FOR EXAMPLE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE ORGANIZED CRIME AND CORRUPTION REPORTING PROJECT (OCCRP), A JOURNALISM CONSORTIUM SPECIALIZING IN ORGANIZED CRIME INVESTIGATIONS, WE PUBLISHED A FEATURE INVESTIGATION INTO NATIONAL SECURITY, GOVERNMENT, AND US MILITARY CONTRACTOR CRIMES IN AFGHANISTAN. THE PRODUCT OF OVER TWO YEARS OF WORK, THIS ARTICLE REVEALED A SECRET DEAL BETWEEN SOS INTERNATIONAL AND THE FORMER AFGHAN PRESIDENT, ASHRAF GHANI. GHANI GRANTED A UNIQUE AND MONOPOLISTIC MINERAL PURCHASE LICENSE TO A SOS INTERNATIONAL SUBSIDIARY. SECRET DOCUMENTS REVEALED THAT THE SUBSIDIARY WAS OWNED IN PART BY HIS BROTHER, HASHMAT GHANI. WE ALSO RELEASED INVESTIGATIVE FINDINGS INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING: IN THE GUARDIAN, WE EXPOSED HOW AMERICAN AND AFGHAN ELITES CONSPIRED TO ROB AFGHANISTAN OF ITS WEALTH BEFORE IT FINALLY COLLAPSED; IN THE NEW REPUBLIC, WE OUTLINED THE FINANCIAL CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MAJOR AMERICAN MILITARY CONTRACTORS AND TERRORIST MILITIAS IN IRAQ; HOW A LARGE MILITARY CONTRACTOR WON EXORBITANTLY PRICED PENTAGON FUEL CONTRACTS IN IRAQI KURDISTAN THAT WE TRACED TO POLITICALLY CONNECTED COMPANIES IN THE REGION; AND, HOW A MAJOR MILITARY CONTRACTOR'S FUEL CONTRACTS WERE TIED TO PAYMENTS TO THE RULING FAMILY OF IRAQI KURDISTAN, AND HOW SOME OF THE MONEY STOLEN FROM THE PENTAGON MAY HAVE ENDED UP FUNDING LUXURY MANSIONS IN CALIFORNIA. IN THE AMERICAN PROSPECT, WE RELEASED DOCUMENTS WE OBTAINED REVEALING A LARGE AMERICAN MILITARY CONTRACTOR IN IRAQ HIRING SUBCONTRACTORS CONNECTED TO IRAQI POLITICIANS AND MILITIAS, BASED ON THE ADVICE OF A FORMER HIGH LEVEL U.S. GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL.

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