Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud

Journalist Mueller (Extra Virginity) explores “the nature of the whistleblowing act” and profiles insiders who have exposed fraud in America’s public and private institutions in this exhaustive account. His subjects include Franz Gayl, a civilian military adviser and former Marine who went public in 2008 with claims that the Department of Defense was preventing frontline soldiers from receiving lifesaving equipment. Florida hospital administrator Elin Baklid-Kunz filed a whistle-blower suit alleging that her bosses had overbilled Medicare and paid illegal kickbacks to doctors, some of whom were performing unnecessary procedures. Citigroup underwriter Richard Bowen’s warnings that 80% of the mortgages bought by the bank in 2007 were “defective” went unheeded until the 2008 financial collapse. Mueller chronicles the serious repercussions faced by these and other whistle-blowers and sketches similarities in their backgrounds (early life struggles; rural upbringings; “straightforward” temperaments) before concluding that there is no “whistleblower ‘type.’ ” He distinguishes between “anonymous leakers” in the Trump administration and “authentic whistleblowers” who buttress their claims with “professional gravitas” and “personal conviction.” Such broad characterizations occasionally mar Mueller’s analysis, but he efficiently synthesizes a vast amount of material. This exceptionally timely book is sure to strike a chord with readers paying close attention to the political landscape. (Oct.)