WASHINGTON – The FBI suspended FBI Special Agent Steve Friend’s security clearance shortly after he made legally protected disclosures of FBI misconduct involving improper record-keeping, waste of resources, and risks to public safety posed by the overuse of SWAT teams and tactics in nonviolent misdemeanor January 6-related cases. Empower Oversight is assisting him in making further …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed an amended complaint (and exhibits) against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) after the agency failed to conduct adequate searches in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request subject to a lawsuit filed in May. The suit seeks to compel the agency to provide documents responsive to the VA’s failure to respond to …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight secured important wins in its lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its failure to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding COVID-19 genetic data deletion at the request of a Chinese researcher. The judge in the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that because the names of the …
Empower Oversight seeks time to conduct page-by-page comparison of the SEC’s last-minute disclosures after agency refuses to specify new info. WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed a motion in the Eastern District of Virginia in its lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking time to conduct a detailed review of about 1,500 pages of …
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Empower Oversight filed an amended complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia informing the District Court of additional details regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) bad faith attempts to delay and avoid complying with Empower Oversight’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding conflicts of interest by top SEC officials surrounding …
WASHINGTON — In its lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding transparency around coronavirus sequencing deletions, Empower Oversight filed a motion to set aside a magistrate judge’s premature order in favor of the NIH’s request to seal documents before receiving and considering arguments opposing the request. On July 15, NIH requested that the name of a …
WASHINGTON – In Empower Oversight’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the Eastern District of Virginia, Empower Oversight has filed its opposition to NIH’s motion for summary judgment. In its motion, the NIH sought to evade accountability for violations of its legal obligations to disclose documents under FOIA. According to …
Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (Empower Oversight) launched one year ago this week, on July 2, 2021, as a new nonprofit educational organization dedicated to holding big government and big business accountable and helping whistleblowers report waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct. Here are some of the highlights of Empower Oversight’s accomplishments in our first year. …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight and Whistleblowers of America wrote to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough and VA Inspector General Michael Missal as well as nonprofit Veterans Education Success (VES), its board, and key donors seeking action to address findings outlined in the Inspector General’s report entitled, Former Education Service Executive Violated Ethics Rules and Her …
NOTE: The message below was delivered to Members of Congress and their staffs on June 15, 2022. Dear Members of Congress and Staff, After two decades of experience conducting oversight and investigations in both the House and the Senate, I started Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (“Empower Oversight”) a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization that works …