Sean Bigley (@smb_JD) is a national security attorney who prosecutes intelligence community whistleblower retaliation cases. His firm represents approximately 200 U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, armed forces members and other security clearance holders each year.

But in Mr. Bigley's vast experience as a litigator and former federal background investigator, one case of alleged brazen political retaliation has topped them all.

This is the case of former distinguished Pentagon Office of Net Assessment analyst and Trump National Security Council Director Adam Lovinger. In defending Lovinger as a whistleblower of malfeasance involving contracts provided to not only a close confidante of the Clinton family, but the now-infamous informant in the Trump campaign, Stefan Halper, Bigley has witnessed a case of alleged political retribution by Obama administration holdovers the likes of which should chill any American.

I had Bigley on the podcast to tell this story -- illustrative of the bipartisan deep rot and corruption within our federal bureaucracy -- and to discuss much more regarding politicization and weaponization of security clearances and how to reform the administrative state and protect its whistleblowers.

What We Discussed

The historical politicization and weaponization of national security clearances
How the politicization and weaponization of national security clearances by holdovers meant to block President Trump's nominees and appointees from coming into the administration is an entirely new pernicious tactic
The story of how the highly rated 12-plus year Pentagon analyst Adam Lovinger has had his career destroyed after blowing the whistle on malfeasance within the Department of Defense's in-house think-tank, the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), including:
- The issues Lovinger blew the whistle on to his superior, ONA Director James Baker, a holdover from the Obama administration, which touched on improper contracts being doled out to among others a close friend of Chelsea Clinton and Stefan Halper, the informant the U.S. government sicced on the Trump campaign to make contact with officials vis-a-vis Russia
- The original probe into Lovinger, for which he was exonerated, that arose shortly after he started writing about malfeasance within his office -- the first such probe in Lovinger's career
- The subsequent investigations into Lovinger contemporaneous with his being detailed to a prestigious role within the Trump National Security Council -- run by investigators allegedly wholly unequipped to do the investigating and tied to Lovinger's old boss Mr. Baker, which would ultimately lead to the suspension and revocation of Lovinger's security clearance and his losing his job and pay
- The allegedly rigged process by which these investigations took place, violating Lovinger's right to due process by not providing the accused with basic information on the charges against him, documentation, leaking of defamatory information on Lovinger to the media, etc.
- Why Lovinger's attorney believes the charges raised against Lovinger were "a total farce," "trial balloon charges" leaked in an attempt to "figure out what would stick"
- How the adjudication process for action taken against Lovinger ultimately may result in him having to make his case to a "panel of unaccountable bureaucrats who report directly to the same woman who has been leading the charge against him from Day One"
- Why Lovinger's attorney believes there is a political motivation behind the pursuit of Lovinger, based in no small part on his raising issues with contracts again doled out to a close confidante of the Clintons -- for whom Hillary Clinton allegedly lobbied -- and the informant into the Trump campaign Stefan Halper
Lovinger's message to President Trump
What reforms Lovinger's attorney would recommend in order to protect whistleblowers in the face of an intransigent administrative state

Thanks for Listening!

Check out other episodes, show notes and transcripts at benweingarten.com/bigideas.

Subscribe, rate and review: iTunes | Stitcher | Google | YouTube

Follow Ben: Web | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

Advertising & Sponsorship Inquiries: E-mail us.

___________

Backed Vibes (clean) Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/