Massive Lawsuit Protecting FBI Whistleblowers

Yesterday, as the U.S. Senate considered the nomination of Kash Patel to lead the FBI, the ACLJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of our client, Empower Oversight, against the FBI and the DOJ for their refusal to comply with five Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests related to the case of vindicated FBI whistleblower Marcus Allen. The lawsuit, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleges that the FBI and DOJ ignored statutory deadlines and unlawfully withheld records.

Allen made protected disclosures regarding congressional testimony of FBI Director Christopher Wray following the events of Jan. 6, 2021. The FBI retaliated against Allen, a decorated U.S. Marine combat veteran, by falsely accusing him of disloyalty to the United States and illegally suspending him without pay for more than two years. In October 2023, Empower Oversight filed Allen’s appeal based on evidence contradicting the FBI’s claims from its own files. The ACLJ worked closely with Empower Oversight on this case.