WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight has won a portion of its appeal of six Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking documents that would explain the extreme delays of an investigation into whistleblower retaliation and other misconduct at the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG). New documents reveal that an independent investigative report …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) seeking to force NIH to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and disclose documents related to a request by Chinese researchers to remove genetic sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from a database controlled by NIH. In July, Empower Oversight submitted a detailed FOIA …
Grassley Thanks Whistleblower Groups Led by Empower Oversight for Supporting Coalition Letter WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced in a statement submitted to the U.S. Congressional Record that the bipartisan leadership of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has agreed to changes to improve whistleblower protections in the Intelligence Authorization Act (IAA). Grassley …
WASHINGTON — Joining more than 20 whistleblower groups, Empower Oversight signed on to a letter thanking the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee for advancing the IG Independence and Empowerment Act (H.R. 2662) out of committee. The coalition wrote, “As reported out of committee, the IG Independence and Empowerment Act contains a number of priorities we are eager …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight sent a letter to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics urging it to investigate whether staff or members of the Senate Armed Services Committee may have violated the “Gift Rule” in soliciting free investigative research services into the Alfa Bank “covert server” link allegations. According to recent court filings, in 2017, a Senate Armed …
Empower Oversight, along with 20 other groups, co-signed a letter to the Senate Homeland Security Committee on the urgent need to improve the inspector general system. The letter urges three reforms. One, protecting inspector general independence by requiring, “the president to communicate a detailed and case-specific reason why they are removing an inspector general and provide lawmakers the opportunity …
WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight led a coalition letter to the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence Committees signed by several whistleblower and government accountability organizations outlining concerns over the most recent draft of the Intelligence Authorization Act. As written, the legislation could be read to roll back existing protections for FBI whistleblowers to report wrongdoing to Congress. Under current law, all …
WASHINGTON –Empower Oversight released an updated version of its timeline examining the origins of COVID-19 following submissions from noted researchers and think tanks. This timeline demonstrates the history and context in which the virus has ravaged the globe and documents the response to the pandemic. The working timeline can be found here. This would not have been …
Requests input from researchers, journalists, and sources WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) has compiled a timeline on the origins of COVID-19, and is asking researchers, journalists, and others to submit additional entries, edits, or corrections. The working timeline can be found here and will be updated as new information is collected. EMPOWER also sent a FOIA request to NIH …
Empower Oversight Helps Lead Letter of Support for Legislation Authored by Senator Chuck Grassley WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight Whistleblowers & Research (EMPOWR) today endorsed the Administrative False Claims Act (AFCA), bipartisan legislation authored by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that will make it easier for the federal government to effectively combat more common instances of fraud. …