Press Release

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight submitted a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS – pdf) documenting the agency’s failure to provide substantive answers to a FOIA request from more than a year-and-a-half ago. On December 9, 2021, Empower Oversight filed a FOIA request with the DHS regarding the agency’s contract and subsequent grant proposals awarded to EcoHealth Alliance. …

WASHINGTON — Last week, Empower Oversight sent a letter co-signed by Whistleblowers of America to Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman John Tester and Ranking Member Jerry Moran about the pending nomination of Tanya Bradsher—the current Chief of Staff to the Secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department—to become Deputy Secretary. In the letter, the groups detail evidence that Bradsher …

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight submitted two letters concerning protections for whistleblowers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), one to Chairman Jim Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee (pdf), and another to the Department of Justice (DOJ, pdf). In his letter to Chairman Jordan, Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt proposed specific amendments to the law …

WASHINGTON — Today, Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt testified alongside Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whistleblower clients before the House Judiciary Select Subcommittee on Federal Government Weaponization. The full opening statement from Leavitt can be read here and watched here. Leavitt explained to Members of Congress how the FBI has abused the security clearance process to circumvent whistleblower protections …

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC – pdf) requesting communications about its referral of evidence to the Inspector General (IG), pointing to ethical violations and related litigation. The FOIA request seeks records of communications about the group’s May 2022 referral to …

WASHINGTON – Empower Oversight filed a complaint against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC – pdf) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to compel the SEC to comply with a December 2022 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request regarding conflicts of interest and selective enforcement by former high-level officials regarding cryptocurrencies. The December …

WASHINGTON — Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) have sent two new letters probing illegal use of federal funds and whistleblower retaliation against former Special Agent Steve Friend—one to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ – pdf), and another to the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG – pdf). …

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG – pdf) requesting documents and communications relating to compliance with and enforcement of legal requirements applicable to EcoHealth Alliance’s grant that was used to study bat coronaviruses …

WASHINGTON — Empower Oversight filed a new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Office of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS-OIG – pdf) calling for documents that may provide background on the agency’s failure to enforce proper procedures to review the COVID-19 research conducted by EcoHealth Alliance that was …

UPDATE (March 15, 2023): Assistant Inspector General Sean O’Neill from the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General (DOJ-OIG – pdf) responded to Empower Oversight’s letter, confirming in writing that his office is indeed “interested in interviewing Mr. Friend about his allegations, which remain under assessment[.]” The letter corrects widely circulated false claims that the …