Grassley’s office often first place whistle-blowers turn

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley says whistle-blowers 'are as welcome in a bureaucracy as skunks at a picnic.”

But Grassley, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, often is the first person to whom federal workers reporting misconduct will turn, according to a former Transportation Security Administration air marshal.

'He has been sort of the godfather of the whistle-blower protection law,” said Robert MacLean. MacLean disclosed a text message to the media in 2003 that said TSA air marshal missions were being canceled for some domestic flights, which MacLean said was a threat to public safety.

MacLean said he was told he had disclosed sensitive security information and later was fired.

MacLean argued that his disclosure was protected under the 1989 Whistle Blower Protection Act that Grassley helped steer with retiring Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear MacLean's case, MacLean v. Department of Homeland Security, this fall.

Grassley has supported MacLean's legal battle, according to MacLean's attorney, Tom Devine.

'He won't let a partisan hidden agenda comp the facts,” Devine said of Grassley. 'In my experience, there are probably few members of Congress over the last few decades who are more feared and respected than Sen. Grassley when it comes to whistle-blowers or oversight issues.”

Devine said he is lobbying to pass a series of amendments to strengthen the whistle-blower law.

Grassley has staffers assigned to work on whistle-blower issues and policy reform. His aides often demand briefings and threaten to call hearings to expose any retaliation if Grassley doesn't get answers, according to Devine, who also is legal director of the Government Accountability Project.

'There's very serious investigative work there,” Devine said. 'He's our first option.”

Not all whistle-blowers have good intentions, Grassley said in a phone interview.

'Some people come to grind an ax,” Grassley said. However, 'most claims are legitimate; if they weren't, I might be discouraged from putting so much work into the investigations.”

Grassley said his interest in whistle-blowers dates to his time in the Iowa House of Representatives. But Grassley said he didn't have the power to make a difference as a state legislator.

His work with federal whistle-blowers began 31 years ago, according to Grassley biographer Eric Woolson, when Grassley investigated $659 ashtrays, $750 toilet seats and $6,000 arm rests that were being installed on new Air Force planes.

Steven Katz, a Washington lawyer and whistle-blower expert, said Grassley sees the battle between whistle-blowers and the federal government as a 'David and Goliath kind of drama.”

'He's for David and thinks people in Iowa would appreciate that,” Katz said.