releases: https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/12/blackburn-van-hollen-moolenaar-and-krishnamoorthi-grill-wada-on-reports-of-agency-intimidating-and-suppressing-whistleblowers
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
This data as json
| url | title | date | year | month | party | chamber | state | member_name | bioguide_id | domain | scraper | source | date_source | text | has_text | collected_at | updated_at |
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| https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/2025/12/blackburn-van-hollen-moolenaar-and-krishnamoorthi-grill-wada-on-reports-of-agency-intimidating-and-suppressing-whistleblowers | Blackburn, Van Hollen, Moolenaar, and Krishnamoorthi Grill WADA on Reports of Agency Intimidating and Suppressing Whistleblowers | 2025-12-08 | 2025 | 2025-12 | Republican | Senate | TN | Marsha Blackburn | B001243 | www.blackburn.senate.gov | blackburn | https://www.blackburn.senate.gov/news/cc8c80c1-d564-4bbb-93a4-f1d772346ae0 | scraper | ‘Whistleblowers are not the enemy, but instead are the reason doping scandals come to light in the first place’ ‘When global institutions like WADA allegedly target those who come forward, they… shatter public trust and harm every athlete who competes honestly’ WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representatives John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) sent a letter to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) demanding answers over allegations that its officials have launched an internal operation called “Operation Puncture” to intimidate and suppress whistleblowers who have sounded the alarm about corruption and misconduct within the agency. Earlier this year, Senator Blackburn led a hearing following WADA’s refusal to investigate Chinese swimmers testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs before the Tokyo Olympics. Reports Say WADA Is Intimidating and Suppressing Whistleblowers “We write to express our concern over allegations that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has been searching for whistleblowers who helped reveal the swimming doping scandal in 2021 involving People’s Republic of China athletes. According to the reporting, WADA officials have launched an internal operation, ‘Operation Puncture’ to investigate the leak of the 2021 doping allegations. While WADA claims that their motivations are innocent, it appears this investigation’s intent is to intimidate and suppress whistleblowers. If these allegations are accurate, WADA is not defending clean sport but is continuing to defend a cover-up.” Blackburn Led Colleagues in Demanding Accountability from WADA for Chinese Doping Scandal “The signers of this letter have been leading the effort to demand accountability from WADA for its handling of the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for the banned substance Trimetazidine before the Tokyo Olympics. We have urged full transparency and cooperation with investigators. Instead, WADA has met those calls with defensiveness, denial, and now alleged retaliation. This is unacceptable. Whistleblowers are not the enemy, but instead are the reason doping scandals come to light in the first place. If WADA is spending its time and resources chasing down those who reveal misconduct instead of addressing the misconduct itself, it has lost sight of its mission to ensure doping-free sport and is betraying the athletes it was created to protect. When global institutions like WADA allegedly target those who come forward, they not only silence whistleblowers—they shatter public trust and harm every athlete who competes honestly.” New Allegations Reaffirm Need to Pass Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act Click here to read the full letter. VIDEO: Blackburn Scorches World Anti-Doping Agency for Refusing to Investigate Chinese Swimmers for Doping Blackburn, Van Hollen, Colleagues Introduce the Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act as U.S. Withholds Funding to WADA ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T01:40:41Z | 2026-04-06T20:09:11Z |