The Top 16 Most Famous Whistleblowers

Learn About Famous Whistleblowers Who Have Reported Everything from Health and Safety Issues to Government Misconduct

For decades, whistleblowers have played a critical role in protecting the American public. Whistleblowers have been responsible for exposing everything from major health and safety issues to consumer fraud, and from threats to national security to government misconduct.

Many of these whistleblowers have played their parts behind the scenes. In fact, in the vast majority of cases, whistleblowers’ identities remain unknown. But, there have been several highly publicized whistleblower cases as well, with the Watergate scandal and former NSA analyst Edward Snowden’s exposure of covert global surveillance programs being among the most well-known.

Who Are Some of the Most Famous Whistleblowers in U.S. History?

As a whistleblower law firm, we have a profound respect for individuals who choose to come forward. Whistleblowers play an essential role in the government’s ongoing fight against fraud, waste, and abuse; and, from filing whistleblower lawsuits under the False Claims Act to attending Congressional hearings, whistleblowers do an enormous amount when they aren’t required to do anything. While whistleblower cases vary widely, all whistleblowers share two things in common: a desire to do what is right, and a willingness to raise ethical concerns when others will not.

Famous whistleblowers throughout U.S. history include federal employees, Army intelligence analysts, police officers, chemical technicians, certified public accountants, senior executives, public health advocates, and other current and former employees in an extremely wide range of occupations. Here are some examples:

1. Antoine Deltour

Antoine Deltour was the whistleblower behind the Luxembourg Leaks scandal involving PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) in 2014. While this scandal unfolded in Luxembourg and Deltour was a French citizen, the scandal involving PWC nonetheless had significant ramifications on U.S. soil. While the scandal implicated PWC, it also implicated several other multinational companies—including Amazon and PepsiCo—that were accused of engaging in complex structuring to avoid international taxation.

Deltour initially came forward confidentially, sharing information that led to charges for theft, fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. However, he publicly identified himself as the whistleblower a short time later, and he was awarded the European Citizens’ Prize by the European Parliament for his efforts in 2015.

2. Chelsea Manning

Chelsea Manning is a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who leaked evidence of civilian deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan and the federal government’s attempts to cover up the CIA’s covert torture program. She was arrested and held in solitary confinement for nearly a year before her trial, during which time she was reportedly subjected to sleep deprivation and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment.

Manning was subsequently convicted of violating the Espionage Act; and, in 2013, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison. However, after receiving widespread support, Manning received a commutation from President Barack Obama and was released in 2017.

3. Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg is the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, revealing that the federal government had misled the American public about the justification for the Vietnam War. He gave the papers to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1969 before releasing them to The New York Times and other media outlets in 1971.

Ellsberg worked with New York Times reporter Niel Sheehan; and, while the U.S. government challenged the Times’ right to publish the Pentagon Papers, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the publication in the famous case of New York Times Co. v. United States the same year.

4. Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden is a former National Security Agency (NSA) analyst who leaked classified documents exposing covert surveillance programs involving multiple government agencies. Snowden fled the United States and was granted asylum by the Russian government; and, while a federal court ruled in 2020 that Snowden had exposed illegal U.S. surveillance, Snowden continues to live in exile.

Snowden’s case has been covered extensively in news reports, and various organizations have both raised concerns about his safety and advocated for his ability to safely return to the United States. Notably, while Snowden is commonly referred to as a whistleblower, he (and several other individuals on this list) did not technically qualify as whistleblowers under federal law. Since these individuals came forward publicly instead of working with the government, whistleblower protection laws did not apply to their disclosures.

5. Frank Serpico

Frank Serpico blew the whistle on police corruption in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a detective in the New York City Police Department at the time of his disclosure, working to expose racketeering. Instead, what he found was extensive corruption within the police department; and, while he initially raised concerns internally, it was not until he contacted The New York Times in 1970 that the corruption was brought to light.

If his name sounds familiar, that may be because his story was turned into a Hollywood movie starring Al Pacino in 1973. The movie, Serpico, is widely regarded as one of the best American crime dramas in history.

6. Janet Chandler

Janet Chandler is a clinical psychologist who filed a qui tam lawsuit under the False Claims Act alleging that Cook County Hospital violated patients’ rights while conducting a federally funded research project examining treatment of pregnant women who were addicted to heroin and cocaine. The False Claims Act is a piece of federal legislation that prohibits fraud under government programs and provides both protection and compensation to eligible whistleblowers.

After Chandler was fired for accusing the hospital of wrongdoing, the federal government filed a lawsuit alleging that she was the victim of unlawful retaliation in violation of the False Claims Act’s protections. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the statute allows whistleblowers to sue local government entities—an important ruling that still stands today—setting the stage for future whistleblowers to pursue similar types of cases.

7. Jeffrey Stephen Wigand

Jeffrey Stephen Wigand was one of the individuals primarily responsible for exposing tobacco companies’ use of additives known to be both addictive and carcinogenic in the 1990s. He appeared on the CBS News program “60 Minutes” in 1996; and, while Wigand was a vice president at the tobacco company Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., his appearance led to government investigations into multiple multinational companies.

The tobacco litigation of the 1990s would go on to have a profound effect not only on the marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products in the United States, but on a wide range of other products as well. Wigand received the first-ever National Whistleblower Center Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024.

8. John Barnett

John Barnett was one of two Boeing whistleblowers who made national headlines in the earlier half of this century. Tragically, both Barnett and the other whistleblower (Joshua Dean, who is also on this list) died in 2024.

Barnett alleged that the airline was aware of and knowingly covered up significant safety violations—allegations that have been mirrored in other cases. He died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Charleston, South Carolina while he was in town to testify against Boeing, which has a major facility in the area.

9. Joseph Darby

Joseph Darby was a member of the U.S. Army Reserve when he blew the whistle on the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. He did so by providing information to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, using an anonymous note and compact discs (CDs) containing evidence of the abuse of detainees.

While Darby initially came forward anonymously, his identity was made public in 2006, and he was placed into protective custody after returning to the United States. Before going into protective custody, Darby received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2005, which was presented by Senator Edward Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy at the JFK Library.

10. Joshua Dean

Like John Barnett, Joshua Dean was a Boeing whistleblower who tragically died shortly after coming forward. While Barnett’s death was ruled a suicide, Dean’s death was attributed to natural causes related to pneumonia and MRSA.

Prior to his death, Dean was a quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, a key Boeing supplier. His whistleblower complaint involved concerns about improperly drilled holes in the fuselages of the airline’s 737 Max planes. Boeing had previously faced scrutiny related to the 737 Max as well, and the company agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement with the federal government in 2021 following allegations that company personnel had intentionally misled the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

11. Karen Silkwood

Karen Silkwood is a whistleblower who reported nuclear safety concerns to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in 1974. Silkwood was a laboratory technician at Kerr-McGee, and she was also known as a labor union activist.

Shortly after she provided her testimony, Silkwood was killed in a car accident under suspicious circumstances. While her death was officially ruled to be the result of her falling asleep behind the wheel, conspiracy theories abounded, and the book Who Killed Karen Silkwood examines evidence that purports to call the cause of her death into question. Silkwood’s story was also turned into an eponymous movie in 1983, with the whistleblower being played by Meryl Streep.

12. Linda Tripp

Linda Tripp is the whistleblower who informed the Office of Independent Counsel (OIC) that President Bill Clinton had lied under oath, leading to his impeachment in 1998. Tripp told the OIC that President Clinton had misrepresented the facts concerning his relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern.

After Tripp came forward, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) released confidential information from her security clearance file. The DOD Office of Inspector General (OIG) found this to be an act of unlawful retaliation, and Tripp received both a monetary settlement and a retroactive promotion as a result of the DOD’s violation of her constitutional rights.  

13. Ronald Ridenhour

Ronald Ridenhour was a whistleblower who exposed the May Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968. After he returned to the U.S. from Vietnam in 1969, he wrote to President Richard Nixon and more than two dozen members of Congress. His letters triggered a federal investigation that led to the conviction of William Calley, who was found guilty of murdering 22 villagers.

Ridenhour went on to become an investigative journalist, and the Ridenhour Prizes are named in his honor. Despite his conviction and life sentence, Calley served less than three days in prison. President Nixon ordered Calley transferred to house arrest, and Calley spent less than three years on house arrest before having his sentence reduced by the U.S. Army.

14. Suchir Balaji

Suchir Balaji was an artificial intelligence researcher at OpenAI who accused the company of widespread copyright infringement and other violations of federal law. He was found dead in his San Francisco apartment in 2024, and his death was ruled a suicide.

Balaji is not the only one to accuse OpenAI of serious statutory violations. The company has faced copyright infringement allegations from The New York Times and other publishers, and other entities and individuals have echoed Balaji’s other concerns as well.

15. Vera English

Vera English was a laboratory technician at General Electric, working in a nuclear facility operated by the company. She discovered widespread radiation contamination at the facility; and, after confirming that the company was not addressing the contamination (by intentionally contaminating an area of the facility which was subsequently left untouched), she contacted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

After General Electric fired English, she filed a complaint with the U.S. Secretary of Labor, and she ultimately took her complaint to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that English had the right to sue General Electric for retaliation.

16. W. Mark Felt (Deep Throat)

Perhaps the most famous whistleblower of all, W. Mark Felt also initially came forward anonymously before revealing his identity as “Deep Throat” prior to his death. Felt’s disclosure of the Nixon campaign’s efforts to plant listening devices in the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington D.C. served as the underpinnings of the Watergate Scandal that led to Nixon’s resignation from the Presidency in 1974.

At the time, Felt was Associate Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He worked with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of The Washington Post, and the Watergate Scandal has since been the subject of numerous movies and TV shows, including All the President’s Men.

FAQs: How Whistleblowers Have Helped Shape History (and How You Can Join Them)

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Do you have questions about serving as a whistleblower for the federal government? If so, we invite you to contact us for a free, no-obligation consultation. To speak with an experienced federal whistleblower lawyer at Oberheiden P.C. in strict confidence, call 888-680-1745 or request an appointment online today.