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 …
Washington, D.C. – Citing a long history of whistleblowing dating back to shortly after the United States declared its independence in July 1776, Empower Oversight is urging the Department of Defense Inspector General (DOD IG) to confirm that Lieutenant Colonel Jacob R. Berry may lawfully speak with Congress and ensure that any restrictions placed upon …
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Empower Oversight has filed an opposition brief to the Justice Department’s (DOJ) effort to submit secret arguments to an appeals court without disclosing them to Empower Oversight or the public. DOJ’s move underscores the problem that prompted the litigation in the first place, which seeks to unseal DOJ’s court filings that supposedly …
Washington, D.C. – Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Inspector General (DHS IG), Joseph Cuffari, to complete its investigation into abuse and political weaponization of the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) now-terminated “Quiet Skies” surveillance program. In a letter to Cuffari, Leavitt urged the DHS IG to issue a …
Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt made the following comment after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the Quiet Skies program would be ending. “Since TSA launched Quiet Skies as we know it in 2018, Air Marshals have again and again exposed the abuses of this wasteful program—especially as the Biden Administration took …
WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight is pressing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for additional records about its Federal Air Marshals Service surveillance programs and asking her to bring transparency and accountability to the programs. The organization’s request stems from the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) misuse of its “Quiet Skies” surveillance program, including its targeting of former …