What happens to federal employees who ignore safety warnings, cover up incompetent or even criminal behavior, destroy official documents and mislead members of Congress? At the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), they get promoted.

That’s the take-away from last week’s National Whistleblowers Assembly on Capitol Hill, sponsored by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and featuring famous NYPD whistleblower Frank Serpico and former FBI agent Coleen Rowley.