U.S. representatives question bank regulator on whistleblowersWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the congressional committee that investigates data breaches and computer hacking blasted the main U.S. banking regulator on Thursday for possibly jeopardizing the work of its inspector general, an internal watchdog, and hunting out potential whistleblowers.  Part of the House Science Committee for months has been looking into the theft of thousands of records from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, including two breaches in which workers downloaded more than 10,000 sensitive and private records onto portable storage devices before leaving the agency’s employ. In a letter to FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, Lamar Smith, the committee’s chairman, and Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the subcommittee on oversight, described an agency slow to cooperate with lawmakers that fails to conduct “good faith” searches for requested information. Moreover, the two, both Republicans, said the FDIC had gathered and reviewed internal communications of its inspector general’s office while collecting documents that the committee had requested.  By law, inspectors general are independent. They function as the ethical and legal consciences of federal agencies, rooting out fraud and mismanagement, often with information provided confidentially by employees. “Not only is the committee troubled that the FDIC continues to withhold pertinent and responsive information to its cybersecurity posture,” it is “even more concerned by the FDIC’s gathering and review” of the inspector general office’s internal communications, they wrote. That could compromise the inspector general’s “ability to conduct its work in a manner uninhibited by the very agency it was created to oversee,” they added. The FDIC was not immediately available to comment. When the committee received documents from the FDIC earlier this week, the lawmakers said, it noticed a “distinct watermark included on each page.”  “Given the committee’s concerns about potential retaliation against whistleblowers discussed in previous letters to the FDIC, the FDIC’s inclusion of a novel watermark raises serious questions about whether the agency it attempting to identify the source of committee materials,” they said. They added that some of the watermarked pages covered communications between the inspector general and FDIC employees, raising concerns that the agency is attempting to identify confidential informants. The committee is demanding that the FDIC send it information on actions to protect whistleblowers and inspector general communications by Monday, June 13. politicsNews
representatives question bank regulator whistleblowerswashington reuters leaders congressional committee investigates data breaches computer hacking blasted main banking regulator thursday possibly jeopardizing work inspector general internal watchdog hunting potential whistleblowers part house science committee months looking theft thousands records federal deposit insurance corp including two breaches workers downloaded sensitive private records onto portable storage devices leaving agency employ in letter fdfc chairman martin gutenberg lamar smith committee chairman barry loudermilk chairman subcommittee oversight described agency slow cooperate lawmakers fails conduct good faith searches requested information moreover two republicans said fdfc gathered reviewed internal communications inspector general office collecting documents committee requested by law inspectors general independent they function ethical legal conscience federal agencies rooting fraud mismanagement often information provided confidential employees not committee troubled fdfc continues withhold pertinent responsive information cybersecurity posture even concerned fdfc gathering review inspector general office internal communications wrote that could compromise inspector general ability conduct work manner uninhabited agency created oversee added the fdfc immediately available comment when committee received documents fdfc earlier week lawmakers said noticed distinct watermark included given committee concerns potential retaliation whistleblowers discussed previous letters fdfc fdfc inclusion novel watermark raises serious questions whether agency attempting identify source committee materials said they added watermark pages covered communications inspector general fdfc employees raising concerns agency attempting identify confidential informants the committee demanding fdfc send information actions protect whistleblowers inspector general communications monday june politicsnews
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: U.S. representatives question bank regulator on whistleblowersWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leaders of the congressional committee that investigates data breaches and computer hacking blasted the main U.S. banking regulator on Thursday for possibly jeopardizing the work of its inspector general, an internal watchdog, and hunting out potential whistleblowers.  Part of the House Science Committee for months has been looking into the theft of thousands of records from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, including two breaches in which workers downloaded more than 10,000 sensitive and private records onto portable storage devices before leaving the agency’s employ. In a letter to FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, Lamar Smith, the committee’s chairman, and Barry Loudermilk, chairman of the subcommittee on oversight, described an agency slow to cooperate with lawmakers that fails to conduct “good faith” searches for requested information. Moreover, the two, both Republicans, said the FDIC had gathered and reviewed internal communications of its inspector general’s office while collecting documents that the committee had requested.  By law, inspectors general are independent. They function as the ethical and legal consciences of federal agencies, rooting out fraud and mismanagement, often with information provided confidentially by employees. “Not only is the committee troubled that the FDIC continues to withhold pertinent and responsive information to its cybersecurity posture,” it is “even more concerned by the FDIC’s gathering and review” of the inspector general office’s internal communications, they wrote. That could compromise the inspector general’s “ability to conduct its work in a manner uninhibited by the very agency it was created to oversee,” they added. The FDIC was not immediately available to comment. When the committee received documents from the FDIC earlier this week, the lawmakers said, it noticed a “distinct watermark included on each page.”  “Given the committee’s concerns about potential retaliation against whistleblowers discussed in previous letters to the FDIC, the FDIC’s inclusion of a novel watermark raises serious questions about whether the agency it attempting to identify the source of committee materials,” they said. They added that some of the watermarked pages covered communications between the inspector general and FDIC employees, raising concerns that the agency is attempting to identify confidential informants. The committee is demanding that the FDIC send it information on actions to protect whistleblowers and inspector general communications by Monday, June 13. politicsNews
Your task is to classify the provided input as real or fake news. Label 0 is meant for fake news, Label 1 is for real news. TEXT: representatives question bank regulator whistleblowerswashington reuters leaders congressional committee investigates data breaches computer hacking blasted main banking regulator thursday possibly jeopardizing work inspector general internal watchdog hunting potential whistleblowers part house science committee months looking theft thousands records federal deposit insurance corp including two breaches workers downloaded sensitive private records onto portable storage devices leaving agency employ in letter fdfc chairman martin gutenberg lamar smith committee chairman barry loudermilk chairman subcommittee oversight described agency slow cooperate lawmakers fails conduct good faith searches requested information moreover two republicans said fdfc gathered reviewed internal communications inspector general office collecting documents committee requested by law inspectors general independent they function ethical legal conscience federal agencies rooting fraud mismanagement often information provided confidential employees not committee troubled fdfc continues withhold pertinent responsive information cybersecurity posture even concerned fdfc gathering review inspector general office internal communications wrote that could compromise inspector general ability conduct work manner uninhabited agency created oversee added the fdfc immediately available comment when committee received documents fdfc earlier week lawmakers said noticed distinct watermark included given committee concerns potential retaliation whistleblowers discussed previous letters fdfc fdfc inclusion novel watermark raises serious questions whether agency attempting identify source committee materials said they added watermark pages covered communications inspector general fdfc employees raising concerns agency attempting identify confidential informants the committee demanding fdfc send information actions protect whistleblowers inspector general communications monday june politicsnews