The Atlantic

America Needs Whistle-Blowers Because of People Like This

From the dawn of the United States, Congress has supported democracy and public integrity by protecting those who spoke up about abuses of power.
Source: Bettmann / Getty

At the dawn of the United States, before the Constitution, and more than 240 years before a U.S. intelligence source filed a whistle-blower complaint against President Donald Trump, Americans clearly understood the damage that high-ranking government officials can do if they use their public authority for private gain.

Esek Hopkins, a Rhode Island slave runner who became the commander in chief of the first United States Navy, was the catalyst for America’s first whistle-blower-protection law, which Congress passed on July 30, 1778. With this congressional support, members of his crew—long-forgotten men with names such as Richard Marven and Samuel Shaw—gave testimony that brought down Commodore Hopkins, ostensibly for the crime of torturing British prisoners of war. Archival research, however, reveals a more complicated story. Rather than serving the new United States in the American Revolution, Hopkins served himself. He repeatedly defied General George Washington’s orders for where and when to engage the British during the war when they conflicted with his self-interest. Rhode Island elites were addicted to the illegal slave trade, and that corruption was at odds with the ideals of the new republic and the state’s own laws.

Unlike Esek Hopkins—and Trump—the nation’s Founders understood corruption to be a threat to liberty and democracy itself. Recently, a still-unidentified whistle-blower within the should be disclosed to Congress. The acting director of national intelligence refused to turn over the information. Leaks suggest that the president withheld military aid to Ukraine in an attempt to pressure that country’s leader into digging up dirt on Joe Biden, one of the Democrats seeking to unseat Trump in 2020. Trump has described the accusation as a “Democrat/Crooked Media con.”

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Your Phone Has Nothing on AM Radio
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. There is little love lost between Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Rashida Tlaib. She has called him a “dumbass” for his opposition to the Paris Climate Agre
The Atlantic5 min read
The Strangest Job in the World
This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here. The role of first lady couldn’t be stranger. You attain the position almost by accident, simply by virtue of being married to the president
The Atlantic8 min readAmerican Government
The Most Consequential Recent First Lady
This article was featured in the One Story to Read Today newsletter. Sign up for it here. The most consequential first lady of modern times was Melania Trump. I know, I know. We are supposed to believe it was Hillary Clinton, with her unbaked cookies

Related Books & Audiobooks