"The No. 1 example of injustice and hypocrisy in the age of Obama"

From BRITT TOWERY: Whistle-blowers face uphill battle

...Whistle-blowers frequently face reprisal — sometimes at the hands of the organization or government that they have accused. Fear for their lives was evident with the cases of Ellsberg, Gun and Darby.

The accused usually fights back against whistle-blowers. Take this month's trial of Bradley Birkenfeld. He was absolutely essential to a landmark tax-evasion case against the Swiss bank UBS' cheating the U.S. Treasury out of $100 billion a year.

Whistle-blower Birkenfeld, on Jan. 8, began serving a 40-month sentence in a Pennsylvania federal prison. His revelations were welcomed by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Then the rich bankers and the tax-evaders turned on Birkenfeld (who worked for UBS), and he became the only one to go to jail.

Leading anti-corruption groups have requested a presidential pardon for him. International anti-corruption groups have joined the case. The open letter to President Obama requested commutation for Birkenfeld to “reverse the devastating impact Mr. Birkenfeld's case will have on international law enforcement efforts.”

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New York Post writer Juan Gonzalez wrote: “Only Birkenfeld ends up in jail — the No. 1 example of injustice and hypocrisy in the age of Obama.”

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