Daniel P. Meyer
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Daniel P. Meyer (born 1965) is an attorney admitted in the District of Columbia and is currently the Managing Partner of the Washington D.C. Office of Tully Rinckey, PLLC, an international law firm headquartered at Albany, New York, and co-founded by Mathew Tully and Greg Rinckey.


Early life

Meyer took his Bachelor of Arts at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
in 1987 and his ''
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
'' at
Indiana University Maurer School of Law The Indiana University Maurer School of Law is the law school of Indiana University Bloomington, a public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. Established in 1842, the school is named after alumnus Michael S. "Mickey" Maurer, an Indianapo ...
in 1995. He is a member of the bar, District of Columbia, a veteran of the first Gulf War and a National Security Studies Fellow –
Maxwell School Maxwell School () is an single-sex school, all-boys secondary school, located north of Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1916, the school is believed to be the oldest school in north of Kuala Lumpur as well as one of the oldest in Kuala Lumpur and ...
,
Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
. Mr. Meyer has also completed the U.S. Judge Advocate General's invitation-only Intelligence Law course at
Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the county seat, seat of government of Albemarle County, Virginia, Albemarle County, which surrounds the ...
in 2010, focusing on the law governing intelligence and counterintelligence activities by the United States. Meyer is a former naval officer. A veteran of the
Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
, he is also a survivor of the 1989 explosion on board battleship , in which a technical malfunction destroyed Turret Two. During the Iowa investigation, then Lieutenant (j.g.) Meyer became a whistleblower when he disclosed alleged misdirection of the investigation to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Regarding his whistleblowing, Dan Meyer stated in 2011, "I can empathize with the pressure that's put on you. But the Navy did OK by me." Meyer's fleet service was the subject of a 2001 TV film, ''A Glimpse of Hell'', starring
Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known professionally as Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Neil Perry in the drama film ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989) and Dr. James Wilson in the med ...
(as Meyer) and
James Caan James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972), for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...
(as Captain Fred Moosally). A
book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...
of the same title was authored by veteran 60 Minutes journalist Charles S. Thompson (W.W. Norton & Co. 1999). In 1993 and 1994, Meyer served as regulatory clerk to Commissioner Andrew C. Barrett of the
Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, internet, wi-fi, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains j ...
. He also served as a graduate intern to the Office of Communications Research in the Executive Office of the President during the first
Clinton Administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following his victory over Republican in ...
. While at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
, he assisted the President's 'War Rooms' for the
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (or OBRA-93) was a federal law that was enacted by the 103rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1993. It has also been unofficially referred to as the ...
and the
North American Free Trade Agreement The North American Free Trade Agreement (, TLCAN; , ALÉNA), referred to colloquially in the Anglosphere as NAFTA, ( ) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that created a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The ...
of 1994. The Communications Research team was under the direction of Ann Walker Marchant, and reported to
Mark Gearan Mark Daniel Gearan (born September 19, 1956) is an American lawyer and the president of Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York. He previously served as a director at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics from 1995 to 19 ...
(later
David Gergen David Richmond Gergen (born May 9, 1942) is an American political commentator and former presidential adviser who served during the administrations of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. He is currently a senior political ...
) and supported the activities of
George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a news presenter, coanchor with Robin Roberts (newscaster), Robin Roberts and M ...
,
Dee Dee Myers Margaret Jane "Dee Dee" Myers (born September 1, 1961) is an American political analyst who served as the 19th White House Press Secretary during the first two years of the Clinton administration. She was the first woman and, at the time, the sec ...
, and
Gene Sperling Eugene Benton Sperling (born December 24, 1958) is an American lawyer who was director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy under Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. He is the only person to ...
. In the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, Meyer served as Communications & Signals Officer for the Flagship
Middle East Force United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. It consists of the ...
during Operations
Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
and
Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. He conned the during that ship's mine sweeping operations to liberate Mina Al Shuaiba, and also during the repelling of Islamic Guard pirates off Nakhiloo Island in 1991. Prior to that assignment, he was the Turret One Officer on board battleship ''Iowa'' from 1987 through 1990. He and his gunners broke the world's record in naval offshore gunnery at
Vieques Island Vieques (; ), officially Isla de Vieques, is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico, and together with Culebra, it is geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. Vieques lies about east of the mainland of Puerto Rico, measuri ...
on January 28, 1989. During his naval service, Meyer was awarded honors, including Surface Warrior Pin, ''Iowa'' (1989);
Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal The Achievement Medal is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The Achievement Medal was first proposed as a means to recognize outstanding achievement or meritorious service of military personnel who were not eligible to rece ...
, Seventh Fleet (1991; for meritorious service under Commander U.S. Naval Central Command during the Persian Gulf War);
Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...
, Commander, Naval Surface Forces, Atlantic (1990); for meritorious service in the aftermath of the explosion on board ''Iowa''. While Officer of the Deck of ''LaSalle'', he qualified for the
Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR) is a United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or surface combat." Coast ...
during minesweeping operations off Kuwait. Other naval operations in which Meyer participated included the
Ernest Will Ernest Louis Georges Will (25 April 1913 – 24 September 1997) was a 20th-century French archaeologist and University professor, a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Biography After he finished his secondary studies ...
Operations escorting U.S.-flagged oil tankers through the
Straits of Hormuz The Strait of Hormuz ( ''Tangeh-ye Hormoz'' , ''Maḍīq Hurmuz'') is a strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It provides the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world's most strategica ...
(1987–1988) and the planned strike at
Nahr al-Kalb The Nahr al-Kalb (, meaning ''Dog River'') is a river in Lebanon. It runs for from a spring in Jeita near the Jeita Grotto to the Mediterranean Sea. Historical significance The Nahr al-Kalb is the ancient Lycus River. The river mouth is reno ...
in 1989. He served under Captains Larry Seaquist and Fred Moosally on board ''Iowa''. His commanding officer during
Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
and the beginning of
Desert Storm , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
was John B. Nathman. Dating from his days on the IOWA tasked to Commander, Cruiser-Destroyer Group Eight, Meyer counted
Jeremy Michael Boorda Jeremy Michael Boorda (November 26, 1939 – May 16, 1996) was a United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral who served as the 25th Chief of Naval Operations. Boorda is notable as the first person to have risen from the enlisted ranks to ...
among his mentors through the mid-1990s.


Private practice (1997 to 2004)

Prior to serving as director, CRI, Meyer practiced law with private firms and non-profit corporations in the
District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, specializing in communications and whistleblower law. He is the former general counsel of
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, environmental protection organization of local, state, and national government natural resource and environmental professionals. PEER serves as a resource to poten ...
(PEER), where he represented
Teresa Chambers Teresa Chambers is an American law enforcement officer and a former chief of the United States Park Police (USPP). She took office as the U.S. Park Police chief on January 31, 2011, but previously served as the U.S. Park Police chief from Februar ...
and worked the gubernatorial issues surrounding the case of Cindy Ossias. Significant litigation included ''Moosally v. W.W. Norton & Co''., 594 S.E.2d 878 (S.C. Ct. App. 2004)(limiting reach of South Carolina courts in defamation cases); ''R.I. Dep't of Envtl. Mgmt. v. United States'', 304 F.3d 31 (1st Cir. 2003)(securing right of federal government to intervene against the States in Department of Labor adjudicatory proceedings); ''William T. Knox v. United States Department of Labor'', 434 F.3d 721 (4th Cir. 2006) (alleging that the United States Department of the Interior ("DOI") violated the whistleblower provision of the Clean Air Act ("CAA"), 42 U.S.C.§ 7622); and appellate litigation in behalf of the shipping services sector of the economy following the consolidation of railroad ownership in the 1990s. Meyer's labor advocacy included participation in the rulemaking regarding the privatization of essential government activities. A critic of privatization, he argued that privatization reaches a limit after which cost savings is limited and enforcement reduced. Meyer's legal writings have appeared in the ''Federal Communications Law Journal'' and the ''Western New England Law Journal''. He is also a non-managerial equity partner of The Crescent Group-based out of New Haven, Connecticut.


Director, Whistleblowing & Transparency (2010 to 2013) and Director, Civilian Reprisal Investigations (2004 to 2010)

Meyer is the former director for whistleblowing and transparency (DW&T) to the Inspector General of the Defense Department. As Director DW&T, Meyer's role was to promulgate a whistleblower protection program and provide leadership for investigations implementing and ensuring accountability in the protection of employees, military and civilian, as well as contractors who disclose violations of law, rule and/or regulation. The DW&T also coordinated office policy on
Qui Tam In common law, a writ of ''qui tam'' is a writ through which private citizen, private individuals who assist a prosecution can receive for themselves all or part of the damages or financial penalties recovered by the government as a result of the p ...
and
False Claims Act False or falsehood may refer to: * False (logic), the negation of truth in classical logic * Lie or falsehood, a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement * False statement, aka a falsehood, falsity, misstatement or untruth, is a st ...
litigation. As DW&T, Meyer also handled sensitive disclosures to Congressional staff, most notably whistleblowing regarding LOGCAP, Retired Military Analysts, the Afghan National Hospital, and the movie
Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American political action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film ...
. From January 2004 to September 2010, Meyer was a federal supervisory investigator specializing in the protection of sources providing information regarding wrongdoing, also known as "whistleblowers." Formerly as the Director, Civilian Reprisal Investigations (DCRI), Meyer led a directorate composed of two investigative teams: the National Security Reprisal Team (NSRT) and the Procurement Fraud Reprisal Team (PFRT). In the spring of 2010, he was announced as a finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal, National Security and International Affairs category., an award he shared with all his investigators, including Andrew P. Bakaj. Meyer has been a consistent critic of pro-management judicial and administrative interpretations of the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, noting their corrosive effect on the intent of the United States Congress in passing the Act. In his role as Director of DW&T and CRI, Meyer has been described as " . . . pretty fearless. He has the knowledge and technical acumen to determine what is right.". In 2001, Meyer cautioned whistleblowers that despite the fact that the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 ". . . says that federal workers should be protected, not punished . . . whistleblowing remains an often risky and difficult path . . . ." Dan Meyer is credited within overcoming some senior leadership reticence to protecting whistleblowers within the intelligence and counterintelligence communities. When addressing whistleblower issues, Meyer focuses on the fact that whistleblowing plays "an important role in improving government performance and accountability." He considers whistleblowing to be " . . . all about transparency. We shouldn't run from letting the people know what we federal employees are doing. In fact, if we had more transparency, we would have fewer problems. More government transparency allows more senior executive and congressional oversight; and oversight allows for the correction of government failures." When describing the Inspector General's reprisal investigations, Meyer stated, "We just call them as they are. I have no concerns at all for protecting the wrongdoer. At the end of the day, the business of government is the people's business, not the wrongdoer's business."


Return to private practice

Following his tour as an
intelligence officer An intelligence officer is a member of the intelligence field employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a r ...
in 2018, Meyer returned to the private practice of law for the first time since 2004. Meyer advises security clearance applicants and holders on foreign influence and preference. On the eve of the President threatening reprisal against a whistleblower in 2019, Meyer and co-author Martin "Mick" Andersen proposed reforming executive branch whistleblowing. When Virginia Governor
Ralph Northam Ralph Shearer Northam (born September 13, 1959) is an American physician and former politician who served as the 73rd governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A pediatric Neurology, neurologist by occupation, he was an officer in the Medical Co ...
was exposed in blackface, Meyer used the media attention to focus security clearances on their own potential liabilities for personal conduct, "It all depends on whether the behavior can turn you into an asset for enemies of the State. Federal employees privileged with a security clearance are held to a standard of behavior established by the President through the Director of National Intelligence. If you have engaged in personal conduct which could be used to leverage you into leaking classified information, then you need to self-report to your security officer to remove, for instance, the blackmail liability of wearing blackface." During the 2019 Federal furlough, Meyer flagged the financial considerations issue saturating the President's decision to shut down the Government: "High credit card balances can trigger a security review, even if you are paid up. So as the shutdown moves into a second or third pay period, these employees will start tripping the continuous monitoring algorithms scanning employee credit reports. By June, we could see an uptick in reviews as these employees defend their financial considerations." At the beginning 2019, the Trump Administration was not as set against whistleblowers as it would be by the close of the year. Initial thoughts of repealing the Presidential directive providing for Intelligence Community whistleblower protection yielded to sounder views, notably those of
Don McGahn Donald Francis McGahn II ( ; born June 16, 1968) is an American lawyer who served as White House counsel for U.S. President Donald Trump, from the day of Trump's inauguration through October 17, 2018, when McGahn resigned. Previously, McGahn ser ...
, who agreed with Meyer's view that a safe conduit for disclosures to the Congress would help bleed off the pressure to leak. Meyer's initial reaction in September 2019 was to note that the DNI chose not to invoke Section 8H of the Inspector General Act which allows the agency head to bar an inspector general's inquiry so long as the Congress is informed. His subsequent general response to the
Impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump The inquiry process which preceded the first impeachment of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States, was initiated by then- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on September 24, 2019, after a whistleblower alleged that Donald Trump may ...
was to advocate for neither side of the political process, but rather to adopt a
Legal process (jurisprudence) The legal process school (sometimes "legal process theory") was a movement within American law that attempted to chart a third way between legal formalism and legal realism.Donald A. Dripps, ''Justice Harlan on Criminal Procedure: Two Cheers for ...
approach to ongoing analysis of events. The beginning and the end of the Trump Impeachment inquiry were both twenty-four months after the security investigation and removal of Meyer as the head of Intelligence Community whistleblowing. Meyer provided a summary of the tools available to potential Intelligence Community whistleblowers at the National Whistleblower Celebration Day luncheon on Capitol Hill in 2017. His views were also sought and published regarding the Trump Administration's (and its allies) assertions that the Ukraine whistleblower's motivations were germane to the proceedings. When the President's detractors overstated the protections available for the Ukraine whistleblower, Meyer pointed out that Congress itself had left those protections incomplete. The legal process approach became most important in the Impeachment inquiry as Congressman
Jim Jordan James Daniel Jordan (born February 17, 1964) is an American politician who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives as the representative for since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. ...
demanded to know the identity of the whistleblower. Dan's response was it is best not to reveal the name of the source, but also to advise that Congress members in general are not barred in unmasking whistleblowers. Meyer's appearance on Wisconsin Public Radio, in particular, was delivered as a general tutorial on whistleblowing and regarding the importance of the Congress in the articulation of American sovereignty. With CNN's
Brianna Keilar Brianna Marie Keilar (born September 21, 1980) is an American journalist who currently serves as a co-anchor of the afternoon edition of '' CNN News Central''. She previously worked as a White House correspondent, senior political correspondent, ...
, Dan explained the role the President was assign to play in protecting the whistleblower and the impact whistleblowing has on the source. Meyer noted that the President was not the whistleblower but rather the official charged with protecting the whistleblower. Dan continued by noting that in the case of White House failure, the head of agency is required to stand in to ensure protection. He focuses on what Meyer calls "Whistleblowing operations" as distinguished from the "vernacular Whistleblowing" rooted in the 1970s activism leading to the Congressional civil service and whistleblowing reforms of 1978 and 1982. Meyer's public outreach supports a balanced approach to the relationship between the Congress and the President, at issue, for instance, in the recent
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision in ''Lucia v. Security Exchange Commission'' (2018) and its progeny. Meyer has noted the Court is now refereeing a heated conflict between the Congress and the President, one in which the Federal agencies are the contested turf. This analytic line was also evident in comments to the press following the issuance of the Mueller report, "the tension between Congress and the White House doesn't really involve the law. Instead, it's a political and constitutional battle over when one co-equal branch of government can force another to follow orders." His comments are also critical of Federal agency attorneys seeking to exploit division between the branches to the detriment of Federal employees, as well as those instances where agency attorneys use other areas of law to distort or thwart Congressional acts to promote whistleblowing. In support of the Executive, this concern includes comments favorable to the President's prerogative in selecting his own appointees free from commitments made by previous executives. As President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
conducted a campaign against federal Inspectors General in the wake of his first impeachment, Meyer noted that the system of Congressionally-created inspectors general were losing their effectiveness. As the Inspector General crisis deepened, Dan was quick to remind official Washington this was a partial continuation of the Trump Administration's 2017 agenda to remove all inspectors general. Meyer has become a source for reporting on the work conditions of these Federal servants as they execute for the President a mission prescribed by the Congress. During the COVID epidemic, this included commenting on the growing limitations required of public servants during the COVID pandemic, as well as noting the effect of sunshine laws on the rights of LGBTQ+ employees. Also of particular interest is the vulnerability of Federal employees when their supervisors violate the law and the employee is under a positive obligation to report the violation. Meyer also supports proactive media efforts to assist public employees in understanding the limitations that may be applied to them retroactively during events such as the
2018–2019 United States federal government shutdown The United States federal government Government shutdowns in the United States, shutdown from midnight Eastern Time Zone, EST on December 22, 2018, until February 9, 2019 (35 days) was the List of United States federal funding gaps, longest gov ...
, a shutdown which produced a good natured tete à tete with
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), is a progressive nonprofit 501(c)(3) watchdog organization devoted to U.S. government ethics and accountability.''Washington Information Directory 2017-2018''; CQ Press; 2017; Pg. 327 ...
(CREW) attorney and chief ethics officer Virginia Canter over
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in support of furloughed Federal employees. Meyer was an advocate of lawsuits by Federal employees against the U.S. Government during the same furlough, a position revealed by Meyer's explanation of the ''Martin'' case which "established the principle that it's a violation of the FLSA to have employees basically work for free; that's what's going on here. AFGE has an incremental strategy; each time there is a furlough, they bring another case to expand the law further and further, so at some point we may get to a position legally where the cost of the shutdowns are known ahead of time because AFGE has won all of those cases. So the executive branch will understand exactly the cost going into a shutdown. If federal law was being enforced the way it was passed by the Congress, there would be a huge disincentive for the executive branch to engage in a shutdown because it would be just too expensive." Meyer frequently offers his assessment on developments regarding the effectiveness of Federal oversight as well as national security issues including counterintelligence and the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence. Of particular interest has been the structure of Defense contracts and the potential counterintelligence vulnerabilities poised by the adoption of emerging technologies. Inspectors general concerns also includes agency performance regarding health and welfare of employees, including the central role of the Director of National Intelligence and the Director, Central Intelligence Agency, in the protection of whistleblowers and the institution failure of the Intelligence Community Inspectors General forum to parallel the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency's (CIGIE) calling out of the Justice Department for the Administration's failure to lawfully handle protected disclosures. Meyer's support for inspector general reform extended, in mid-2019, to unsuccessful efforts to reconfigure the remains of the old IC Whistleblowing program closed down in 2017 through the
Intelligence Authorization Act The Intelligence Authorization Act is a yearly bill implemented in order to codify covert, clandestine operations and defines requirements for reporting such operations to the Congress. The first act was passed along with the Intelligence Overs ...
. Those proposed reforms included a codified appeals process for whistleblowers who faced retaliation. The reform recommended that the Intelligence Community create an administrative entity similar to the Merit Systems Protection Board. Support for reform included the new Congressional whistleblower Ombuds position created by Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi Nancy Patricia Pelosi ( ; ; born March 26, 1940) is an American politician who was the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, serving from 2007 to 2011 an ...


Termination from the Intelligence Community

The Director of National Intelligence permitted Meyer contact with the media during the two hearings held in three parts prior to Meyer's his separation. That media access combined with subsequent disclosures by other intelligence officers have provided the facts known by the public regarding what became the take down of the program informally known as ''IC Whistleblowing'' from 2013 to 2018. As PenAmerica reported, " 2013 the directorate was created to help promote whistleblowing as an internal function. Former whistleblower Dan Meyer was appointed as ICW&SP's executive director, a selection that was praised by civil society groups. But in November 2017, Meyer was placed on administrative leave and escorted from his office. In March, Meyer was fired for undisclosed reasons in a process that was—in the words of two U.S. senators—'marked by procedural irregularities and serious conflicts of interest.'" Even though Meyer requested the required investigation into reprisal against him for three Congressional disclosures, Inspector General Michael Atkinson (Inspector General) did not open an investigation. Meyer appeared at the National Whistleblower Day celebration immediately following his removal. Though his case was deemed to be important in the issues that it raised, no investigation followed. Meyer thanked Senators
Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...
and
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
,
Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th gove ...
and
Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden ( ; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United States Senate special el ...
, and then maintained the same position he did as an intelligence officer: ''Federal employees are required to blow the whistle, so blowing the whistle should be so common it is reported positively on annual performance ratings''. Meyer closed his talk with an anecdote from the first
John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
Administration and used it to warn of events to come over the next two years, 2018 to 2020. IC Whistleblowing was eventually replaced by a new entity, the Center for Protected Disclosures (CPD). At the beginning of Meyer's removal, Senator Grassley began a long pursuit of documents pertaining to CIA electronic monitoring of Congressional staff working whistleblower cases and combined that with an interest in obtaining disclosure of information pertaining to Dan Meyer's termination Dan Meyer. When Grassley release evidence in November 2018 that Meyer had been monitored while he was communicating with Congressional staff on whistleblowing matters, Meyer released a statement stating, "The Intelligence Community whistleblowing program, and its branch of protection for all federal security clearance holders, is based on a presidential order. When the president says ‘jump three feet,’ all federal officials are required to jump three feet. In the case of reviewing supervisors’ and managers’ malfeasance for whistleblower reprisal, this means every qualifying complainant gets a local agency review. If a cadre within the Intelligence Community or any of the 72 or so federal offices with security clearances is slow rolling or obstructing compliance with a presidential directive, those officials need to answer for their insubordination. Such officials may be insider threats working against
Presidential Policy Directive 19 The United States Presidential Policy Directive 19, signed by President Barack Obama, is designed to ensure that employees who serve in the Intelligence Community or have access to classified information can effectively report waste, fraud, and ab ...
; they may also be unworthy to stay within the circle of trust by retaining a security clearance."


Congressional testimony

In testimony before the United States Congress in 2003, Meyer advanced a theory stating that there is a
false dichotomy A false dilemma, also referred to as false dichotomy or false binary, is an informal fallacy based on a premise that erroneously limits what options are available. The source of the fallacy lies not in an invalid form of inference but in a false ...
between Defense readiness and Environmental compliance. National security and environmental security are two components of the common defense. Central to the theory is the concept that national security achieved at the expense of the environment undermines the purpose for which a common defense is maintained. In his 2003 testimony before House Resources, Meyer distanced himself Raymond F. Dubois, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Installations, and Environment, Department of Defense. Meyer advised the committee that environmental laws were to be read together, each successive act of Congress forming an evolving set of mandates on federal agencies, all of which were to be organized as a whole under an ''Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan''. Meyer also used the hearing as an opportunity to warn the Congress about the impact of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's decision in the ''Huffman'' case (2000), fundamentally changing the protections afforded to federal whistleblowers, and the dangers of further delegations of statutory responsibilities to the States unless a concurrent delegation of the whistleblower protection provisions was matched by a waiver of sovereign immunity. While at PEER, Meyer was moving this theory into a deconfliction of environmental and mercantile policies as well. This is evident in his pleading regarding ''Installing and Maintaining Commercial Submarine Cables in National Marine Sanctuaries'', 65 Fed. Reg. 51264-51270 (Dkt. No. 0005261–0157–01)(Aug. 23
2000
. Reference to the PEER environmental security work during Meyer's tenure can be found in Rita Floyd's ''Security and the Environment: Securitisation Theory and U.S. Environmental Security Policy'' (2010). During the winter of 2006, Meyer appeared in Congressional testimony with Mr. Thomas F. Gimble, Acting Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense, and Ms. Jane Deese, Director of Military Reprisal Investigations before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats, and International Relations. The hearing was called by Congressman
Chris Shays Christopher Hunter Shays (born October 18, 1945) is an American politician. He previously served in the United States House of Representatives as representative of the 4th District of Connecticut from 1987 to 2009. He is a member of the Repub ...
(R-CT). In the testimony, the Office of the Inspector General stated that it had the authority to investigate adverse security clearance and access decisions as part of its broad responsibility for investigating allegations that individuals suffered reprisal for making disclosures of fraud, waste and abuse to certain authorities. Meyer's February 2006 testimony discussed the importance of whistleblower-initiated complaints driving the investigative process so that the offices of inspectors general are not used to target whistleblowers. The issue arose in an exchange with Ohio Congressman
Dennis Kucinich Dennis John Kucinich ( ; October 8, 1946) is an American politician. Originally a Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Kucinich served as U.S. Representative from Ohio's Ohio's 10th congressional district, 10th congressional district fro ...
(D-Ohio) and related to the experience of Sgt.
Samuel Provance Samuel Provance is a former United States Army, U.S. Army military intelligence Sergeant#United States, sergeant, known for disobeying an order from his commanders in the 302nd Military Intelligence Battalion by discussing with the media his expe ...
. In his Congressional testimony, Meyer's positions have typically supported the independence of discrete constitutional actions. This concern for the independence of government decision-making is also present in his first appearance in a court of law, making oral argument in ''United States v. Graf'', 35 M.J. 450, 1992 CMA LEXIS 1032 (Sept. 30, 1992).


Community Involvement

Meyer served as mayor of the Town of
Burkittsville, Maryland Burkittsville is a historic village in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The village lies in the southern Middletown Valley along the eastern base of South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania), South Mountain. Burkittsville is a resident ...
in 2001–2004. He also served as the chairman of that municipality's Planning & Zoning Commission. Meyer ran unopposed. In the year prior to the election, he was known for his objection to Burkittsville's treatment by the makers of The
Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. One of the most successful independent films of all time, it is a "Foun ...
, a mock documentary horror film that became a hit in 1999. Reflecting on Hollywood's performance in both ''A Glimpse of Hell'' and ''The Blair Witch Project'', Meyer saw an inverse relationship between the movies. 'With the 'Blair Witch' thing, you were looking at a movie that had a fictitious account of the town. In the IOWA story, it was the exact opposite. The media product is more accurate to the truth than any official finding.' During this service from 1996 to 2002, he aided the town in its response to the Blair Witch Project and also assisted local residents in developing preservation strategies during the buildout of communications technologies after the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Meyer is currently an usher and a lector, Saint John's Parish Church in
Hagerstown, Maryland Hagerstown is a city in Washington County, Maryland, United States, and its county seat. The population was 43,527 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hagerstown ranks as Maryland's List of municipalities in Maryland, sixth-most popu ...
and is exceedingly active in alumni affairs for Cornell University.


Personal and family

Meyer was born at the U.S. Naval Hospital,
New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the outlet of the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, which empties into Long Island Sound. The cit ...
. During his youth, the family was assigned to naval stations in the tidewater of Virginia, northern Virginia, Northwood, England and Ithaca, New York, during his childhood and adolescence. He is a 1983 Regent's graduate of Ithaca High School, and studied at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
under
Dan Baugh Dan Baugh (born September 10, 1974 in Regina, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian rugby union player, who retired in 2005 due to a long string of injuries. He ended his career in Wales with the Cardiff Blues of the Pro14, Celtic League. A popular player ...
,
George McTurnan Kahin George McTurnan KahinSometimes referred to as George Kahin or George McT. Kahin. Some, but fewer, sources may also cite him as George M. Kahin. (January 25, 1918 – January 29, 2000) was an American historian and political scientist. He was on ...
,
Peter Katzenstein Peter Joachim Katzenstein FBA (born February 17, 1945) is a German-American political scientist. He is the Walter S. Carpenter, Jr. Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. Katzenstein has made influential contributions to the ...
,
Isaac Kramnick Isaac Kramnick (March 6, 1938 – December 21, 2019) was an American political theorist, historian of political thought, political scientist, and the Richard J. Schwartz Professor of Government at Cornell University. He was a subject-matter expert ...
,
Walter LaFeber Walter Fredrick LaFeber (August 30, 1933March 9, 2021) was an American academic who served as the Andrew H. and James S. Tisch Distinguished University Professor in the Department of History at Cornell University. Previous to that he served as t ...
(himself a student of
William Appleman Williams William Appleman Williams (June 12, 1921 – March 5, 1990) was one of the 20th century's most prominent revisionist historians of American diplomacy. He achieved the height of his influence while on the faculty of the department of history at t ...
),
Theodore J. Lowi Theodore J. "Ted" Lowi (July 9, 1931 – February 17, 2017) was an American political scientist. He was the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions teaching in the Government Department at Cornell University. His area of research was t ...
,
Mary Beth Norton Mary Beth Norton (born 1943) is an American historian, specializing in American colonial history and well known for her work on women's history and the Salem witch trials. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emeritus of American History at th ...
and
Norman Uphoff Norman Uphoff (born 1940) is an American social scientist now involved with agroecology serving as a Professor of Government and International Agriculture at Cornell University. He is the acting director of the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs ...
. Meyer is the spouse to Davis F. Davis of
Elkton, Virginia Elkton (formerly Conrad's Store) is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. It is included in the Harrisonburg, Virginia, Harrisonburg Harrisonburg metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistic ...
. Meyer's mother is Mary Kinney Meyer (1933–1994), a graduate of St. Mary's Hospital nursing program and the granddaughter of the honorable
John Franklin Kinney John Franklin Kinney (June 20, 1860 – May 8, 1934) of Rochester, New York was a New York State jurist and Democratic Party operative of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, described as one of "the strong men of the Democratic Party, potent ...
of Rochester, New York, jurist and corporation counsel to the City of Rochester. Through his maternal line and the Kennys of
Coolkenno Coolkenno ( meaning ''The nook of the Uí Chionaoith tribe'') is a village in County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located about halfway between Tullow in County Carlow and Shillelagh in County Wicklow. It is also a townland in the civil parish ...
, He is cousin to
Jack Kenny Jack Kenny (born March 9, 1958) is an American writer, director, actor, and producer. Early life and education Kenny was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Sally (from Guantanamo, Cuba), a mother and housewife, and Jack, Jr. (from Chicago, I ...
, the American writer, director, actor, and producer. Meyer's father, Captain James Meyer, USN (Ret.), was born Dec. 2, 1929 in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
. He took his master's degree from
George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
in 1972 through the
Naval War College The Naval War College (NWC or NAVWARCOL) is the staff college and "Home of Thought" for the United States Navy at Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island. The NWC educates and develops leaders, supports defining the future Navy and associa ...
at
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
. His thesis was on the transition of the People's Republic of China from a communist to an oligarchical system of government. He was married t
Mary Kinney Meyer
from 1955 to 1994. There are four Meyer children
ElizabethPaulMaureen
an

Through his paternal line from Neustadt in Silesia (now
Prudnik Prudnik (, , , ) is a town in southern Poland, located in the southern part of Opole Voivodeship near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Prudnik County and Gmina Prudnik. Its population numbers 21,368 inhabitant ...
), Meyer is cousin to author
David Schickler David Schickler (born July 30, 1969, in Rochester, New York) is an American screenwriter and author, most recently of the memoir ''The Dark Path'', published by Riverhead Books in September 2013. He is the co-creator and an executive producer of ...
. His namesake, Dan Fletcher, is a musician and author of the CD ''Brooklyn Romantical''. Meyer's father, Captain Meyer, entered the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
in 1947 as an
enlisted man An enlisted rank (also known as an enlisted grade or enlisted rate) is, in some armed services, any Military_rank, rank below that of a Officer (armed forces), commissioned officer. The term can be inclusive of non-commissioned officers or warr ...
. The future Captain Meyer served as a
radioman Radioman (RM) was a rating for United States Navy and United States Coast Guard enlisted personnel, specializing in communications technology. History of the rating The rating was created originally in 1921. In 1997, under the direction of Ch ...
after completing the basic course at the
Great Lakes Naval Training Center Naval Station Great Lakes (NAVSTA Great Lakes) is the home of the United States Navy's only current recruit training, boot camp, located near North Chicago, Illinois, North Chicago, in Lake County, Illinois, along Lake Michigan. Important tenan ...
. Attending the electronics school, he was assigned to the
Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
fleet. In 1949, he was sent to the United States Naval Academy Preparatory School in anticipation of matriculation at the
United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...
in the fall of 1950. Taking his commission from the USNA in 1954, he served briefly in
Flying boats A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull (watercraft), hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for b ...
at
Willoughby Spit Willoughby Spit is a peninsula of land in the independent city of Norfolk, Virginia in the United States. It is bordered by water on three sides: the Chesapeake Bay to the north, Hampton Roads to the west, and Willoughby Bay to the south. H ...
and on board the USS ''Arneb'' (AKA-56) before entering the Submarine school at
Groton, Connecticut Groton ( ) is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located on the Thames River (Connecticut), Thames River. It is the home of General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the major contractor for submarine work for the United St ...
. From 1955 onward, he served successively on the Argonaut, George Washington, and . In his naval service, Captain Meyer conducted the surveillance of the first Soviet fleet operations into the south Atlantic and was the weapons officer of the during the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...
. He was also executive officer of the . He was
commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...
of the Requin and Cutlass. On NATO staff, Captain Meyer served with Admirals John Fieldhouse,
James Eberle Admiral (Royal Navy), Admiral Sir James Henry Fuller Eberle, (31 May 1927 – 17 May 2018) was a senior officer in the Royal Navy who served as Commander-in-Chief Fleet from 1979 until 1981. Naval career Educated at Clifton College and the Brita ...
and
Henry Leach Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Conyers Leach, (18 November 1923 – 26 April 2011) was a Royal Navy officer who, as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff during the early 1980s, was instrumental in convincing the British prime minister Ma ...
. The president of the Mess at their headquarters,
HMS Warrior At least five ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Warrior'': * was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line launched in 1781. She became a receiving ship after 1818, a convict ship after 1840, and was broken up ...
, was Lord
Louis Mountbatten Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born Prince Louis of Battenberg; 25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979), commonly known as Lord Mountbatten, was a British statesman, Royal Navy of ...
. The Frasers of Three Rivers were neighbors and family friends of Captain Meyer and his family. Captain Meyer's father, George Earl Meyer served on the Texas border in the aftermath of the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
during General John J. Pershing's expedition into Mexico. In 1969 he left sea duty and served on NATO staff in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
prior to a
Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...
assignment in Naval Operations (OPNAV) (OP-02) under Admiral Bob Long. Promoted to captain, he then served as Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations and Intelligence, to the Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Atlantic (CINCEASTLANT) /Commander-in-Chief, Channel (CINCHAN). His final tour was under Commander, Naval Education & Training (CNET) as commanding officer and professor of naval science at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
(1979–1984) during the presidency of Frank H.T. Rhodes. He was Meyer's commanding officer during then-Midshipman 4/C Meyer's freshman year at Cornell. Dan Meyer was mentored by Cornell's Richard M. Ramin, in part, due to the latter's relationship with Captain Meyer. Both Ramin and Dan Meyer were tapped into Cornell's
Sphinx Head Society The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of dedication to leadership and service at Cornel ...
and worked successfully to end that organization's ban on women members.


Selected publications

* Dan Meyer & Everett E. Volk, ''"W" for War and Wedge? Environmental Enforcement and the Sacrifice of American Security - National and Environmental - To Complete the Emergence of a New "Beltway" Governing Elite'', 25 W. New Engl. L. Rev. 41, 104-105 (2003). * William J. Sill, ''Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Agencies Act of 1994'' (CALEA), Wireless Review (January
1999
(Ghost-written). * Andrew C. Barrett, ''Deregulating the Second Republic'', 47 F.C.L.J. 44 (1994) (co-authorship footnote

* Andrew C. Barrett, ''Shifting Foundations: The Regulation of Telecommunications in an Era of Change'', 46 F.C.L.J. 39 (1993)(contribution footnoted


Associations

Mr. Meyer is a member of the
Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...
fraternity, Cornell's
Sphinx Head Society The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of dedication to leadership and service at Cornel ...
, and the Irving Literary Society.Phi Kappa Psi, The Grand Catalogue of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity (16th ed. 2009) at 286; New York Alpha of Phi Kappa Psi, Membership Directory (1999) at 13; New York Alpha of Phi Kappa Psi, Membership Directory (1992) at 46.


References


External links

* U.S. Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector Genera
(AI-CRI)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Daniel P. 1965 births Cornell University alumni United States Navy officers People from Ithaca, New York People from Burkittsville, Maryland Living people Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York) alumni