Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a nonprofit organization that investigates allegations of government corruption and whistleblower cases. It primarily serves as an advocate for whistleblowers, both from the corporate world and from the government.

The organization has worked to undermine American national security by representing the likes of Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor who defected to Russia with classified intelligence material. The organization has also sought to undermine the work of the CIA by demanding the declassification of documents related to interrogation methods.¹

GAP also has received money from numerous left-wing foundations and organizations.

Corporate Accountability

GAP works on various issue areas. It works on corporate accountability and governance. It protects whistleblowers from corporations from retaliation. GAP supported the Sarbanes-Oxley Act after the collapse of Enron in 2001.²

Environmentalism

Another area of work is the issue of the environment. GAP demands the U.S. transition to a “clean, renewable energy economy.” It opposes the use of inexpensive fossil fuels and has criticized natural gas exploration, which has led to the exploitation of cheap, abundant supplies of natural gas.³

In addition to opposing fossil fuels, GAP is opposed to nuclear power. It takes credit for the end of nuclear power plant construction in the United States.⁴

GAP has established the Climate Science & Policy Watch as a subsidiary organization. The project investigates is energy companies that do not follow the environmentalist movement’s agenda.⁵

Undermining National Security

GAP has represented former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Snowden leaked classified documents alleging the U.S. government was involved in illegal domestic surveillance. Snowden then defected to Russia with the documents. ⁶  A GAP lawyer, Jesselyn Radack, was one of a number of left-wing activists who presented Snowden with a “whistleblower” award in 2013.⁷

In addition to representing Snowden, GAP called for the declassification of materials related to CIA interrogation methods. In 2014, GAP signed a letter drafted by the Project On Government Oversight that called for the release of the documents. The letter was also signed by the Federation of American Scientists and the William J. Brennan Center for Justice.⁸ At the time, the CIA and other defense analysts warned about increased violence towards Americans.⁹

Food Integrity Campaign

The Food Integrity Campaign is another subsidiary campaign of GAP. It focuses on practices in the food industry and argues for increased regulation. ¹⁰

In 2020, the GAP invested over $2.5 million dollars into the Food Integrity Campaign, which in turn helped launch the Rural Partnerships program. ¹¹ The  program was intended help the FIC in increasing advocacy towards transparency in green energy technologies production in the corporate sector, supporting the exposure of industrial practices in agriculture that risk spreading of diseases in rural communities, and protecting whistleblowers along with supporting anti-retaliation measures. ¹²

Leadership

Louis Clark currently serves as executive director and CEO of GAP. Clark has worked with GAP since 1978, having first served as legal counsel.¹³

Michael Termini serves as the chief of staff. He previously worked at the Citizens Campaign for the Environment. He is the author of a book critical of former President George W. Bush.¹⁴

Thomas Devine currently serves as legal director.¹⁵

Funding

GAP is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

According to its 2016 Form 990 tax filing, GAP generated $3.1 million in income with nearly $2.5 million in contributions. It spent $2.3 million. GAP also collected $589,818 in attorney fees. ¹⁶

GAP’s largest expense in 2016 was nearly $1.3 million spent trying to contact whistleblowers from the 2008 financial crash. GAP has represented those whistleblowers in front of the SEC.¹⁷

GAP spent $497,646 on the Food Integrity Project in 2016, a project focused on food safety concerns and whistleblowing at the USDA.¹⁸

The group spent $103,379 representing national security whistleblowers in 2016, listing $57,145 spent in lobbying expenses.¹⁹

In 2016, executive director and CEO Louis Clark reportedly earned $107,765 and chief of staff Thomas Devine earned $103,902.²⁰

Grants

GAP has received donations from left-wing foundations CS Fund, George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, and Rockefeller Family Fund.²¹ It has also received $200,000 over two years in 2017 from left-leaning technology billionaire Pierre Omidyar’s Democracy Fund.²²

1. Cohen, Rick. 2013. “Gov’T Accountability Project Stands Up For Edward Snowden, Whistleblower”. Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2013/11/13/gov-t-accountability-project-stands-up-for-edward-snowden-whistleblower/.
2. “Corporate Financial Accountability”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/corporate-financial-accountability.
3. “Environment & Energy”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. https://www.whistleblower.org/environment-energy.
4. “Climate Change & Nuclear Power”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/climate-change-nuclear-power.
5. “Climate Change & Nuclear Power”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/climate-change-nuclear-power.
6. Cohen, Rick. 2013. “Gov’T Accountability Project Stands Up For Edward Snowden, Whistleblower”. Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2013/11/13/gov-t-accountability-project-stands-up-for-edward-snowden-whistleblower/.
7. Lally, Kathy. “The Whistleblowers Who Visited Snowden.” The Washington Post. October 10, 2013. Accessed January 23, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/snowdens-father-arrives-in-moscow/2013/10/10/ec4f6c32-3182-11e3-ad00-ec4c6b31cbed_story.html?_=ddid-1-1548253020&utm_term=.00fdbae52284.
8. “Groups Ask Intelligence Committee To Release Report On CIA Interrogations”. 2014. Constitutionproject.Org. https://constitutionproject.org/documents/groups-ask-intelligence-committee-to-release-report-on-cia-interrogations/.
9. Kutsch, Tom. 2014. “Dueling Political Narratives Surface Ahead Of Torture Report Release”. America.Aljazeera.Com. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/12/8/us-torture-narrative.html.
10. “New Inspection System to Be Rolled out in US Pig Slaughter Plants.” The Pig Site. October 23, 2018. Accessed January 23, 2019. http://www.thepigsite.com/swinenews/45453/new-inspection-system-to-be-rolled-out-in-us-pig-slaughter-plants/.
11. Suozzo, Andrea, Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Alec Glassford, and Brandon Roberts. “Government Accountability Project Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521343924/202102919349301430/full.
12. “Rural Partnerships.” Food Integrity Campaign. Government Accountability Project, October 31, 2022. https://foodwhistleblower.org/campaign/rural-partnerships/.
13. “Louis Clark”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 23. https://www.whistleblower.org/our-team/louis-clark/.
14. Termini, Michael. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. https://www.whistleblower.org/our-team/michael-termini/.
15. Devine, Tom. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 23. https://www.whistleblower.org/our-team/tom-devine/.
16. 2016 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Project. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Inspection%20Copy%20Form%20990%20-%20GAP.pdf.
17. 2016 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Project. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Inspection%20Copy%20Form%20990%20-%20GAP.pdf.
18. 2016 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Project. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Inspection%20Copy%20Form%20990%20-%20GAP.pdf.
19. 2016 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Project. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Inspection%20Copy%20Form%20990%20-%20GAP.pdf.
20. 2016 Form 990. 2019. Ebook. Washington, D.C.: Government Accountability Project. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/sites/default/files/2016%20Public%20Inspection%20Copy%20Form%20990%20-%20GAP.pdf.
21. “Truth Be Told. It Isn’T A Tagline. It’S Our Driving Purpose.”. 2019. Whistleblower.Org. Accessed January 7. https://www.whistleblower.org/truth-be-told-it-isn%E2%80%99t-tagline-it%E2%80%99s-our-driving-purpose.
22. “Government Accountability Project: Democracy Fund”. 2019. Democracyfund.Org. Accessed January 7. https://www.democracyfund.org/portfolio/entry/government-accountability-project1.