FOIA Update

Empower Oversight and Just The News Seek Records to Shed Light on the IRS and Congressional Oversight

Transmitted: February 24, 2023 To: Internal Revenue Services, GLDS Support Service Full Letter: Letter to the Internal Revenue Services (PDF) RE: Request for Records Relating to DOJ-OIG’s Decision Not to Investigate a Whistleblower Allegations of Systemic Abuses by the FBI SUMMARY Empower Oversight Founder and President Jason Foster, alongside Just The News Editor-In-Chief John Solomon,

Empower Oversight Probes Failure to Oversee Grants to EcoHealth Alliance and Wuhan Institute

Transmitted: February 6, 2023 To: Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services; National Institutes of Health Full Letters: Letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (PDF)Letter to the National Institutes of Health (PDF) RE: FOIA Request for Information Relating to NIH/NIAID’s Failure to Enforce a Grant Provision Requiring EcoHealth Alliance to Submit

Empower Oversight Demands Answers on FBI Retaliation Against Whistleblower Steve Friend

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on January 31, 2023, seeking records to shed light on the actions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, pdf) and the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG, pdf). One FOIA request seeks documents relating to the FBI’s retaliation against Special Agent Stephen Friend

Empower Oversight Presses for Transparency on Excess Salary Paid to Former Intel Community IGs

Transmitted: January 4, 2023 To: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General; Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency; and National Security Agency Full Letters: Letter to the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector GeneralLetter to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency FOIA OfficerLetter to the National Security AgencyRE: Requests

Empower Oversight Appeals DOD Watchdog’s FOIA Release on Excess Salaries Paid to IGs

Transmitted: October 13, 2022  To: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General Full Letter: Letter to the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General RE: Freedom of Information Act Appeal: DODOIG-2022-000658 SUMMARY Empower Oversight filed an appeal with the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General (DOD-OIG) after the agency failed to produce all documents responsive to a Freedom

Empower Oversight Probes Allegation that FBI Ignored Evidence Related to Most Wanted Fugitive Whitey Bulger

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight received an allegation that while Whitey Bulger was one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, the Bureau ignored a lead based on physical evidence reported by a local homicide detective in the area where Bulger was hiding and was eventually arrested. Empower Oversight filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, one request with

Judge Orders NIH to Deliver Unredacted Documents for the Court’s Review in Lawsuit on Deletion of COVID-19 Data

WASHINGTON — At a hearing today in Empower Oversight’s lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia ordered the agency to provide unredacted copies of certain documents in order to determine whether information was improperly redacted and should be disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The judge’s order

Empower Oversight Files Appeal of NIH’s Responses to FOIA Request Regarding Dr. Fauci’s Security Detail

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed an appeal to inadequate responses from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests concerning the tax dollars spent on Dr. Anthony Fauci’s 24-hour security detail provided by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). The public has a right to know, and

Empower Oversight Challenges DOJ’s Decision to Withhold Info on Special Counsel Durham’s Budget and Its Hiring of Durham Critic Susan Hennessey

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight filed two appeals challenging the Department of Justice (DOJ) for its inadequate response to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests: (1) one appeal relates to DOJ’s failure to disclose information related Special Counsel John Durham’s budget request, and (2) the other appeal relates to DOJ’s hiring of Durham critic and former

Empower Oversight Seeks Answers from Justice Department Watchdog on Senior FBI Misconduct

Transmitted: June 9, 2022  To: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General Full Letter: Letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Inspector General RE: OIG FOIA REQUEST NO. 22-OIG-031 SUMMARY Empower Oversight sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) regarding an inconsistency between two letters received