GOP Whistleblower Site to Keep Tabs on Their Own

January 12th, 2011. By AbiK

And then some.

Call me jaded. Call me skeptical. Call me “oh, ye of little faith”. But I’m guessing most of you out there will call me a realist when you take into consideration that House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) is running a whistleblower website (see pic; wb-gop-oversight.house.gov/) whereby government insiders and the general public can blow the whistle on perceived (or real) fraud or misconduct—done by anyone regardless of party affiliation.

By the way, for those who don’t breathe, eat, and live this stuff on a daily basis, when we’re talking government fraud, we’re talking “Qui Tam” whistleblower cases. More on what the heck Qui Tam means can be found here on our blog.

I do commend the effort—Issa’s not only got the website going—it’s a form that you can fill out to report government fraud, and of course, while you are required to submit your email address or phone number, all details provided will be “kept in strict confidence”. But he’s out there socializing it as well in an effort to not only be accessible but seemingly more transparent. Go Rep Issa.

According to a post over at TheHill.com, Issa’s also got a twitter account (@DarrellIssa, and yes we (@OnlineLegalNews) follow him) where he responds to tweets shot over in his direction.

[Note to self: given recent requests (er, subpoenas) for info exchanged on Twitter re: WikiLeaks, maybe not ideal to post sensitive info, questions, allegations, or otherwise on Twitter…]

Interestingly too, the article at TheHill.com also has some comments—one’s from a Daniel Haszard who’s a steady commenter here at LawyersandSettlements.com on Zyprexa. Guess it is true we all run in the same circles… But another, from Back Firer, reads “He just opened the door for more crazy people to take their anger out on govenment. This man is on a witch hunt, but the hunt will back fire.” Well, perhaps, but I do agree there will be quite a number of “vent” submissions, and submissions from crackpots, and I pity the fool who’s going to have to moderate it all.

But—I suppose if it does stop even just one act of fraud, maybe it’s worth it.

Again, I do commend Issa’s efforts—but for my money, give me an attorney who specializes in whistleblower litigation. I so want to trust that the powers that be will do the right thing, with zero repercussions or retaliation, but like I said, call me jaded, I just can’t “go there” yet.

What do you think?

Tags: Darrell Issa, Government Fraud, Qui Tam, Whistleblower

This was posted on Wednesday, January 12th, 2011 at 5:04 pm and is filed under Consumer Fraud, Whistleblower . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.