Empower Oversight, which represents the whistleblower who made protected disclosures about the decision to allow fentanyl to be “walked” has called on the Inspector General and congressional oversight committees to investigate the disclosures made by DEA Special Agent David Howell, a 19-year veteran who reported that federal agents deliberately allowed millions of fentanyl pills to flood New Mexico streets in violation of explicit Justice Department policy. Since making the protected disclosures, Howell has faced retaliation for sounding the alarm.

The fentanyl “walking” directly violated 2019 Department of Justice (DOJ) protocols requiring agents with probable cause to seize fentanyl, a substance that President Trump has designated a weapon of mass destruction. Instead of addressing the violations, officials reprimanded Howell for stopping a suspected fentanyl vehicle, stripped him of his law enforcement duties, and blocked him from testifying in court.

“The same agency that warns the public, ‘one pill can kill,’ should not intentionally allow hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to hit the streets. It’s outrageous to put that many lives at risk in hopes of making a big case. There has to be a better way than to repeat the mistakes of Fast and Furious, and if not for brave whistleblowers, yet again, the truth of what the government did would stay hidden.”

The fentanyl walking is eerily similar to an initiative of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) that ran from 2008-2011. The initiative sought to allow illegal gun purchases to proceed, or “walk,” rather than intercepting them immediately, in hopes of tracking the weapons up the supply chain to major Mexican drug cartel leaders. ATF agents monitored straw purchasers buying thousands of firearms from Arizona gun dealers and deliberately let those guns cross the border into Mexico, believing they could build bigger cases against cartel kingpins. Instead, the agency lost track of the vast majority of the roughly 2,000 weapons it allowed to walk. The guns turned up at crime scenes across Mexico and the United States. The operation came to public light after walked weapons were found at the scene of the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in Arizona, and whistleblower John Dodson came forward and made protected disclosures about the gunwalking.

Empower Oversight has written to Acting Deputy Attorney General Colin McDonald pressing for an immediate halt to the retaliation, and has formally requested that DOJ Inspector General William Blier investigate whether fentanyl walking extended beyond Albuquerque.

Congressional notification letters have been sent to Chairmen Chuck Grassley, Rand Paul, Jim Jordan and James Comer.

The letters to the congressional offices, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Deputy Attorney General can be found here.

The AP article can be found here.

An article by the Albuquerque Journal can be found here.

###

The post DEA Whistleblower: Feds Allowed Millions of Fentanyl Pills to Hit New Mexico Streets, Violating Federal Policy appeared first on Empower Oversight.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Office of Special Counsel today released a report confirming protected disclosures by Department of Education whistleblower Timothy Mattson, represented by Empower Oversight, that the Department’s Office of Civil Rights unlawfully continued processing Title IX complaints related to gender identity and sexual orientation, defying both a federal court injunction and the advice of the department’s own legal counsel and the Department of Justice.

Two years after Mattson first brought his disclosures to the Office of Special Counsel, the final report confirms his disclosures following an extensive investigation by the Department of Education.

“This report is a clear vindication for Tim and the rule of law. The Office of Civil Rights defied a direct federal court order and continued to target schools for lawful policies,” Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt said. “Unfortunately, however, staff in senior supervisory positions who aided, abetted, or quietly complied with the illegal actions are still in positions of authority. The federal government needs to hold them accountable.”

Despite the court order, seven of the 12 regional offices opened cases for investigation or mediated cases in violation of the injunction. Numerous cases remain open in varying status.

Background

On January 20, 2021, President Biden issued an executive order expanding Title IX protections to cover gender identity and sexual orientation. Twenty states subsequently filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee challenging the executive order. In July 2022, that court issued an injunction in Tennessee v. Department of Education, No. 21-308, prohibiting the federal government from implementing guidance documents that expanded Title IX based on the January 2021 executive order.

Despite the court’s injunction, the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights continued to open investigations into schools in states covered by the injunction. In April 2024, Empower Oversight filed a formal disclosure with the Office of Special Counsel on behalf of Mattson. The disclosure documented how the Office of Civil Rights, contrary to advice provided by the Department’s own General Counsel’s office and the Department of Justice, continued to process complaints under Title IX on issues related to gender identity and sexual orientation in states covered by the Eastern District of Tennessee’s injunction.

Following the disclosure, the allegations were referred to the Secretary of Education for investigation. The Department’s first draft investigation report omitted material facts and contained false and misleading statements. As a result, the Office of Special Counsel requested a supplemental response from the agency.

Mattson provided specific documented examples of the Office of Civil Rights’ violations of the court’s order:

•  In one instance, a school restricted athletic competition to biological sex, an entirely lawful policy under the injunction. Nonetheless, the Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation against the school in direct violation of the court’s order.

•  In another case, a school declined to change a student’s name and pronouns in academic records and restricted bathroom use to biological sex. Again, the Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation against the school in violation of the injunction.

The leadership from the Office of Civil Rights repeatedly gave staff direct instructions to continue with cases defying the court-ordered injunction while suggesting other employment might be necessary for those not on board.

To read the report from the OSC, click here.

To hear from Mattson, along with his attorneys from Empower Oversight, click here.

###

The post U.S. Education Department Violated Court Orders by Pushing Gender Identity Over Biological Sex in Title IX Cases appeared first on Empower Oversight.

…As the acting AG tries wooing them and others from his party ahead of an unscheduled committee hearing, former colleagues of Davis—a veteran staffer on that same Judiciary panel—said he has the mild-mannered demeanor to handle such thorny situations.

“I’ve seen him in very high-pressure, high-stress situations. It doesn’t look like his pulse even goes up when everyone else is freaking out,” said Jason Foster, who worked alongside Davis on the Judiciary Committee for current Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “That’s exactly the kind of person I would want there if I were the acting attorney general.”

A former investigative counsel for Grassley’s panel, Davis has the measured touch that could help Blanche sway the panel’s pivotal swing votes, his past Hill coworkers said .

Three people familiar with the situation credited Davis as crucial in Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s bruising confirmation process by helping persuade Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to provide the decisive vote.

For the full story, click here.

The post ICYMI – Bloomberg News: Blanche Confirmation Push Follows Strained DOJ-Hill Relations appeared first on Empower Oversight.

You can read the post here or the original substack post here.

The post ICYMI – Foster Pens Column on 1776 Fund and How Congress Enabled It appeared first on Empower Oversight.

Empower Oversight Founder Jason Foster was one of the targets of DOJ’s snooping, covertly collecting his phone and email records when he led the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Oversight and Investigations unit for then-Chairman Charles Grassley. DOJ subpoenaed activity logs of the personal phone and email accounts of members of Congress and more than 40 staff members for congressional committees. Each year for five years, DOJ secretly obtained NDOs from the court to prevent Google and other service providers from notifying their Legislative Branch customers that the providers had disclosed their records to the Executive Branch. 

On May 2, 2024, Empower Oversight filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to unseal documents regarding DOJ’s subpoenas for activity logs of the personal phone and email accounts of members of Congress and a dozen or more attorneys for congressional committees. 

On Sept. 6, 2024, the Chief Judge of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, James E. Boasberg, agreed that two of DOJ’s applications for NDOs should be unsealed in part. However, after privately reviewing all of the DOJ applications and renewals that forced Google to keep the subpoenas secret for six years, Judge Boasberg allowed DOJ to keep the majority of the NDOs secret without explaining why. 

Empower Oversight’s case was bolstered by the release of a December 2024 report from DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG). After reviewing the sealed NDO applications, the OIG found that the DOJ “relied on general assertions about the need for nondisclosure rather than on case-specific justifications” as required by law and DOJ policy (OIG Report, page 9). Even more troubling, the DOJ failed to inform the court that the subpoenas targeted members of Congress and their staff—key context that could have prompted a more meaningful review by the court.

On April 4, 2025, Empower Oversight filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit challenging Chief Judge Boasberg’s decision to keep sealed the arguments used by DOJ to obtain the NDOs.

On April 23, 2025, Empower Oversight opposed the government’s attempt to delay.

On May 12, 2025, Empower Oversight was notified that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had denied the federal government’s attempt to further delay its justification for five years of NDOs.

On July 2, 2025, Empower Oversight filed an opposition brief to the DOJ effort to submit secret arguments to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia without disclosing them to Empower Oversight or the public.

In addition to the most recent reply brief filed August 8, 2025, there are also several other efforts to force transparency:

• a separate FOIA suit by Empower Oversight;
• a congressional subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee; and
• congressional oversight inquiries by Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Chuck Grassley.

On August 8, 2025, Empower Oversight filed a reply brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, calling on the court to require DOJ to fully disclose the government’s applications for NDOs that kept secret subpoenas for the communications of Foster and dozens of other Republican and Democratic congressional staff and members of Congress.

On Feb. 3, 2026, the D.C. Circuit largely upheld the district court’s decision.

In April 2026, DOJ completed production of records in the FOIA request lawsuit for records related to the subpoena for the communications records of Foster.

The post Records Production Complete in Congressional Spying FOIA Lawsuit appeared first on Empower Oversight.

“This letter is more a toddler’s temper tantrum than serious congressional oversight. It’s filled with shameless lies about our clients that would get him sued if he wasn’t protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate privilege.

“It is common practice for federal agencies to settle legal or administrative complaints against them, which (as Empower Oversight made public on March 19, 2025) virtually all of the whistleblowers had against the FBI at the time of the settlements. Empower Oversight been transparent at every step about its case for making these whistleblowers whole, with hundreds of pages documenting the flaws in FBI actions against these employees. In fact, two of our clients who received settlements were FBI Security Division employees retaliated against for exposing the FBI’s use of the security clearance process for reprisal against other Empower Oversight clients–a wrong even the Biden-era FBI recognized when it reinstated our client Marcus Allen’s security clearance.”

Background

On May 12, 2026, Representative Jamie Raskin released a letter to Acting Attorney General Blanche about various settlement agreements, including five that involve current or former clients of Empower Oversight who previously worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”). In addition to misrepresenting the cases against our clients and possibly causing unfounded damage to their reputations, the letter shows a profound misunderstanding of the difficulties that FBI whistleblowers, and FBI employees as a whole, face. Instead of attacking the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for righting these wrongs, Rep. Raskin should call for reforms to protect all FBI employees of all political stripes from abuses.

Rep. Raskin leaves out the fact that FBI officials have a history of manipulating administrative proceedings, particularly security clearance matters, to force out employees for whistleblowing, exercising their First Amendment rights, or to prevent them from having the benefit of the FBI’s disciplinary process. While that disciplinary process is flawed and can be manipulated as well, the FBI’s suspension of security clearances—when it has no authority to do so under statute, executive orders, or the Code of Federal Regulations—is a far more insidious action. It results in the immediate, indefinite suspension of the employee without pay. The employee has no means to appeal the decision, and there is no deadline for the suspension. Meanwhile, the FBI claims that employees are restricted from taking further employment. Essentially, a clearance suspension is a financial death sentence that the FBI uses to force out employees whom it does not want to give due process. Also, the abuse does not end if the FBI decides to revoke a security clearance, because that only begins another process that has no deadline and, like the suspensions, can last years.

Another key error in Rep. Raskin’s letter is that while some of our clients expressed strong conservative views, several did not share those views and did not support President Trump at all. In fact, clients of diverse political viewpoints spoke out against the abuses of the security clearance process that were perpetrated against our other clients. Those security clearance whistleblowers suffered reprisal as a result.

Responses related to specific employees referred to in Rep. Raskin’s letter

Agent 1 – Agent 1 did not communicate any classified information. The FBI review referred to by Rep. Raskin was a hurried set of allegations by FBI Security Division that were debunked when Agent 1 was finally given an opportunity to respond. FBI Security Division failed to recognize that much of the allegedly leaked information was already public. Similar information had been released prior to the reporter ever meeting Agent 1. There were sources from those previous releases who were in a better position than Agent 1 to provide the information that Security Division alleged was leaked, and an investigation of Agent 1 by counterintelligence investigators cleared him. In fact, FBI counterintelligence officials were so convinced of Agent 1’s innocence that other investigators subsequently asked him to help on a Chinese espionage investigation and gave him access to classified information. Agent 1 was falsely accused of meeting with the reporter in violation of FBI policy, when he was allowed to participate in the events where he met her, and he had reported the meetings to his supervisor. He was targeted because of his political beliefs and hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine. In fact, contrary to what Rep. Raskin suggests, Agent 1’s resignation is an example of the fundamental unfairness of the FBI’s suspension of security clearances. He was left with no means to support his family while the FBI claimed it had the authority to restrict him from taking another job. There was no deadline and no means to appeal this indefinite suspension, so he was forced to resign.

Agent 2 – Contrary to Rep. Raskin’s letter, on its own, the FBI Security Division rescinded its decision to revoke Agent 2’s clearance prior to any settlement agreement. Agent 2 had provided evidence showing that he had not knowingly entered the restricted area on January 6, 2021, because barriers had been taken down prior to his arrival. He passed a polygraph examination with the OIG confirming that. The FBI Security Division had previously ignored photographic and video evidence confirming his statement as well. The OIG investigation showed that he did not lack candor in his statements.

Agent 4 – Contrary to Rep. Raskin’s letter, prior to Agent 4’s involvement, the FBI had investigated the Patriot Front and determined the group was nonviolent and its activities were constitutionally protected. Nonetheless, Agent 4 actively participated in a new investigation of the Patriot Front. When prosecutors removed exculpatory information about the group from a search warrant affidavit, agents refused to swear to its accuracy. Agent 4 was pressured to find an agent ignorant of the exculpatory information to attest to the misleading affidavit. When Agent 4 refused, he was subjected to reprisals. The warrant was obtained without notifying the court of the exculpatory information. No inculpatory evidence was obtained as a result of the improperly obtained warrant, and no one was charged with a federal offense. In fact, several state charges were dismissed, in part, because exculpatory information found on the searched devices was not produced and federal prosecutors refused to disclose the improper search warrant affidavit to defense attorneys. Agent 4 never engaged in commercial sex. He had pending employment claims when his settlement agreement was reached.

Special Agent Garret O’Boyle – O’Boyle did not disclose any classified information. He made unclassified protected disclosures to members of Congress and discussed unclassified FBI matters with active FBI employees. Considering Project Veritas is a domestic group that was being investigated for buying a stolen diary belonging to President Biden’s daughter, it is unlikely that there was any classified national security information in that case. The revocation of his clearance was pending as were employment claims when the settlement agreement was reached. 

Other background material

August 26, 2025 press release           

August 26, 2025 letter to Grassley

March 19, 2025 press release

March 19, 2025 press release

March 18, 2025 press release

March 5, 2025 letter to Ramer

March 3, 2025 press release

Feb 13, 2025 whistleblower quotes

Jan. 2025 FOIA lawsuit filing can be found here.

FOIA requests related to Jan. 2025 lawsuit:

Feb. 23, 2024

March 5, 2024  

July 10, 2024 

Sept. 26, 2024 

Jan. 22, 2024 letter to Horowitz, Ragsdale

Jan. 23, 2024 letter to Ramer, Horowitz

April 26, 2023 letter to Horowitz

Garret O’Boyle statement

Zachary Schoffstall statement

Mike Zummer statement

The post Leavitt Response to Congressional Letter Filled with Lies about Empower Oversight Clients appeared first on Empower Oversight.

Upon revealing the list, the Washingtonian President and CEO wrote, “Each year, we publish a special issue featuring the 500 most influential people in Washington. With changes in policy direction coming at breakneck speed, the expertise and strategic acumen of these power players have never been more crucial as they work to understand and shape rapidly shifting priorities across the capital.

“Our selection process remains rigorous, and we acknowledge that there are far more than 500 influential voices in Washington. We focus on several key factors: individuals with deep subject-matter expertise who understand how to effectively drive action in DC; those who grasp the nuances and complexities of specific policy areas; and experts in fields that are experiencing particularly dramatic change under the current administration.”

For the full list click here.

The post Washingtonian Honors Empower Oversight Founder as 500 Most Influential People of 2026 appeared first on Empower Oversight.

The request seeks documents that shed light on potential systemic failures in hospice oversight, and on how the agency has identified, responded to, or declined to act on known fraud indicators.

Hospice fraud has been extensively documented both in New York and nationwide. The Vice President’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud has charged eight individuals with defrauding the health care system of more than $50 million, and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has launched an investigation into what it describes as “rampant hospice fraud.”

“Because hospice care does not provide curative treatment, the hospice benefit is uniquely vulnerable to exploitation by bad actors seeking to profit from the system,” said Empower Oversight President Tristan Leavitt.

The records request targets four key areas: complaints, investigations, and enforcement actions against hospice providers, including fraud schemes involving ghost patients and improper billing; licensing controls and internal policies governing hospice certification and fraud detection; inter-agency communications with the governor’s office and federal bodies, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Justice; and billing audits, program integrity reports, and data analyses flagging abnormal patterns or overpayments.

This filing is the latest in Empower Oversight’s ongoing, multi-state investigation into the misuse of federal funds. The organization has already filed similar requests:

• Empower Oversight pressed the California Department of Public Health for comprehensive records related to hospice fraud and oversight failures, focusing on how the agency responded, or failed to respond, to known fraud indicators, including suspicious clustering of hospice providers at single addresses, abnormal billing patterns, and unusually high reimbursement rates.
  
• In January 2026, Empower Oversight filed a records request with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families targeting that state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), which receives approximately $185 million in federal funds annually. Minnesota was among five states subject to a federal funding freeze and has faced sustained scrutiny over empty childcare facilities and improper payments identified by federal inspectors.
  
• Empower Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, seeking records related to the oversight and integrity of New York’s own CCAP, a program that distributed more than $1.1 billion in federal funds in fiscal year 2025.

For a copy of the letter click here.

###

The post Empower Oversight Widens State Fraud Queries to New York Hospice Regulator appeared first on Empower Oversight.

Empower Oversight’s request comes as reports show that empty New York City preschool facilities have cost taxpayers nearly $100 million in rent and utilities alone, with at least 28 sites meant to serve nearly 3,800 children sitting idle.

In January 2026, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) suspended access to certain federal childcare and family assistance funds for New York and four other states amid concerns about fraud and misuse of taxpayer dollars. HHS Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill described the situation as “blatant fraud that appears to be rampant” in state-administered childcare programs.

Empower Oversight’s request seeks investigative reports, inspection findings, enforcement records, and communications related to childcare providers suspected of fraud — including any records related to the federal funding freeze and the Administration for Children and Families’ Defend the Spend initiative.

“The federal government has become so big and unwieldy, with little oversight, from either Congress or the executive branch. It’s past time to get to the bottom of how federal dollars are being used in the states. Taxpayers deserve transparency and the knowledge that their taxes are going to those who need it most,” Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt said.

This request is part of Empower Oversight’s broader, ongoing investigation into fraud utilizing federal taxpayer funds across multiple states. In January 2026, Empower Oversight filed a similar records request with the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families targeting that state’s CCAP, which receives approximately $185 million in federal funds annually. Minnesota was among the five states subject to the federal funding freeze and has faced sustained scrutiny over empty childcare facilities and improper payments identified by federal inspectors.

In addition, the organization has pressed for comprehensive records from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) related to hospice fraud and oversight failures across California. The request for information centered around how CDPH responded, or failed to respond, to known fraud indicators, including suspicious clustering of hospice providers at single addresses, abnormal billing patterns, and unusually high reimbursement rates per patient.

For a copy of the letter, click here.

###

The post Empower Oversight Expands State Fraud Inquiry into New York appeared first on Empower Oversight.

The post Tristan Leavitt and Chris Dodge Discuss Shielded by Power documentary on The Jenny Beth Show appeared first on Empower Oversight.