Founder of new whistleblower group contrasts ‘cowardly’ leaking with whistleblowing

Just The News: There is an important difference between whistleblowing and leaking information that is often overlooked, according to Jason Foster, founder and president of Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR).

People misunderstand that “there is a difference between blowing the whistle, which is legal, and protected — and, arguably, your patriotic duty, right — and leaking,” Foster told the John Solomon Reports podcast. “Leaking is completely different … leaking is illegal, a lot of the time, or against policy of the agency. And it’s often the cowardly way out, as opposed to the patriotic thing to do.”

Foster is the former chief investigative counsel to Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. What he learned from Grassley “was the value of using whistleblowers to guide what you’re doing” he said, “because they help point you to where the bodies are buried, the skeletons in the closet, they help you ask the right kinds of questions and dig deeper than just trying to grab a headline” now and then.

Whistleblowers “help keep you grounded” because “typically, they’re not in it for any kind of partisan reason, and they’re putting their neck on the line and their career on the line,” said Foster. “And it’s usually because it’s something pretty important that everybody should care about, regardless of whether you’re Republican, Democrat, conservative, or liberal.” more