Whistle-blowers are protected from harassment and related by Federal regulations.
Government workers are required to yearly take a course on that.
That said, in reality, the way one can tell a real whistle-blower is that the govt persecutes them...jail/fines/etc.
Illegal of course for the govt to do that, but with elections being corrupted to the point they are now, the public has no tool to reform the corruption.
The Ukraine govt is said to be one of the most corrupt in the world...and yet the current Administration is in bed with them.
Birds of a feather, flock together?
Remember the Pentagon Papers?
Did that whistle-blower get fined and imprisoned?
Or was he made a hero for his act?