Press Release

WASHINGTON, D.C. – IRS whistleblowers former Supervisory Special Agent Gary Shapley and Special Agent Joe Ziegler reached settlements with the IRS and Justice Department (DOJ) for illegal retaliation against them. The settlements included significant compensation for damages and a requirement for new training for federal prosecutors to deter future whistleblower retaliation. Shapley and Ziegler’s 84-page …

SENATE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS EXAMINING THE WEAPONIZATION OF THE QUIET SKIES PROGRAM SEPTEMBER 30, 2025  TESTIMONY OF TRISTAN LEAVITT PRESIDENT EMPOWER OVERSIGHT  Chairman Paul, Ranking Member Peters, and Members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. I was last before this Committee in 2021 when it considered my nomination to the …

Washington, D.C. – Empower Oversight is urging the U.S. Department of Education (DOEd) to finalize and release the investigative report required by a referral from the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which forwarded information from a whistleblower disclosing DOEd’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) had been violating federal court injunctions that limited the enforcement of …

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight is applauding the historic resolution of eight whistleblower retaliation cases, which now resolves all 10 longstanding client disputes with the FBI, as outlined in the organization’s March 5 letter to the FBI General Counsel. The settlements represent more than 12 years of suspended days corrected by these agreements. “For each of …

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight today filed a forceful response to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) attempt to dismiss IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joe Ziegler’s retaliation case before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The filing accuses DOJ attorneys of perpetuating the very retaliation the case seeks to address—by misrepresenting facts, smearing the whistleblowers with …

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight has filed a reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, calling on the court to require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fully disclose the government’s applications for non-disclosure orders (NDOs) that kept secret subpoenas for the communications of Empower Oversight’s founder, Jason Foster, and dozens …

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight continues to press for answers about the administration of the National Human Trafficking Hotline and the potential conflicts of interest by staff overseeing the hotline at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The hotline, a critical public safety resource for victims of trafficking, is administered by Polaris Project through …

WASHINGTON — The whistleblower who threw open the curtains on the FBI’s weaponization of the security clearance process against Trump supporters, COVID vaccine skeptics, and 2nd Amendment advocates has now had his security clearance reinstated.  The Justice Department has also agreed to cancel his indefinite suspension after more than three years, provide full backpay with …

In a massive legal victory for free speech and government accountability, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled in X’s favor to limit the U.S. government’s ability to issue gag orders.  These gag orders prevent X from notifying anyone, including its customers, that it has provided user information to the government in response …