Tristan Leavitt

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Tristan Leavitt
Member of the United States Merit Systems Protection Board
In office
March 4, 2022 – February 28, 2023
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded bySusan Tsui Grundmann
Personal details
BornIdaho Falls, Idaho, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Children5
EducationBrigham Young University (BA)
Georgetown University (JD)

Tristan Leavitt is an American attorney who is the president of Empower Oversight as of March 2023. He formerly served in several roles at the Merit Systems Protection Board, including member, acting chair, and general counsel.

Early life and education[edit]

Originally from Idaho Falls, Idaho, Leavitt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Brigham Young University in 2007.[1] At BYU, he was student body vice-president.[1][2] He later earned a Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University.[3]

Career[edit]

Early career[edit]

After graduating from BYU, Leavitt was hired as an intern in the office of Congressman Bill Sali, where he later was promoted to staff assistant.[1] He then interned at Human Rights Without Frontiers before working on the staff of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as principal deputy special counsel and acting special counsel at the United States Office of Special Counsel.[3][4][5]

Merit Systems Protection Board[edit]

In October 2018, Leavitt was appointed general counsel of the Merit Systems Protection Board.[3] On February 28, 2019, the term of the only remaining member of the three-person MSPB expired, leaving the board with no members.[6] Leavitt then assumed unitary control of the board's non-exclusive functions in accordance with continuity of government plans the board had enacted the last time it had members.[6]

On September 2, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Leavitt to serve as a member of the MSPB.[7] Leavitt was confirmed on March 1, 2022 and took office three days later on March 4. He served until the expiration of his term on February 28, 2023.[8]

At the time of Leavitt's departure, Acting Chair Cathy Harris evaluated Leavitt's time with the MSPB as "a really great asset to the board. He came with a lot of experience in whistleblower law. He also held down the fort during the lack of quorum".[9]

Empower Oversight[edit]

In March 2023, Leavitt was hired as president of Empower Oversight, which describes itself as a "non-profit anti-corruption organization" and, according to the New York Times, is a "small group mostly composed of Republican lawyers with deep experience in Capitol Hill investigations" who spent years as aides to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa.[10][11] Empower Oversight was founded on July 2, 2021.[12] Clients represented by Empower Oversight include Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who raised concerns about the treatment of rioters who participated in the January 6 United States Capitol attack and Internal Revenue Service agents who alleged that President Biden's son, Hunter Biden, was receiving preferential treatment from federal prosecutors.[13][14]

Hunter Biden has since sued the IRS, alleging that two of Leavitt's IRS clients, Greg Shapley and Joe Ziegler, illegally shared his personal tax information.[15][16]

Leavitt has worked closely with Kash Patel, a close associate of Donald Trump, who donated thousands of dollars to some of Leavitt's FBI clients.[17] Stephen Friend, an FBI client represented by Empower Oversight, now works for the Center for Renewing America, a conservative think tank that employs Patel. The FBI suspended Friend in August 2022 for his objecting to using a SWAT team to arrest armed members of the “Guardians of Freedom,” a group which adheres to the ideology of the “Three Percenters,” a far-right extremist organization.[18] The arrestees were at the U.S. Capitol illegally on January 6, 2021, according to the FBI.[18]

2023 West Virginia legislative election[edit]

In April 2023, Leavitt announced he intended to run for the West Virginia House of Delegates in the 53rd legislative district.[19]

Personal life[edit]

Leavitt is married and has five children.[1][6][3] He met his wife while both were attending BYU.[20]

In 2013, he served as president of the BYU Political Affairs Society, a networking group of BYU alumni sponsored by the BYU department of political science.[21]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Bandes, Jillian (August 10, 2007). ""Be All You Can Be" on Capitol Hill". Roll Call. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Living A BYUSA Lifestyle". The Universe. November 28, 2006. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d "MSPB Announces Appointment of New General Counsel". mspb.gov. Merit Systems Protection Board. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  4. ^ "Tristan Leavitt". wm.edu. College of William and Mary. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  5. ^ "OSC Welcomes New Principal Deputy Special Counsel" (PDF). U.S. Office of Special Counsel. 20 September 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-29. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ a b c Ogrysko, Nicole (December 23, 2020). "How one small agency is grappling with the concept of 'reopening'". WFED. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  7. ^ "President Biden Announces Two Key Nominations". whitehouse.gov. The White House. 2 September 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  8. ^ "Member Leavitt Departing MSPB" (PDF). Merit Systems Protection Board. February 27, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-02.
  9. ^ Temin, Tom (March 6, 2023). "A progress report from the Merit Systems Protection Board". Federal News Network. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  10. ^ "Empower Oversight Announces New President". empowr.us. Empower Oversight. March 2023. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
  11. ^ Broadwater, Luke (September 18, 2023). "Former Republican Aides Shepherd Whistle-Blowers Through Congress". New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  12. ^ "Year in Review: On the Anniversary of Empower Oversight's Launch, a Look Back at the First Year". empower.us. Empower Oversight. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Inside Jim Jordan's Disastrous Search for a 'Deep State' Whistleblower". Rolling Stone. 2 March 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  14. ^ "Who are the Hunter Biden IRS whistleblowers? Joseph Ziegler, Gary Shapley testify at investigation hearings". CBS News. 19 July 2023. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  15. ^ "Hunter Biden sues the IRS over tax disclosures after agent testimony before Congress". Associated Press. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  16. ^ Broadwater, Luke (September 18, 2023). "Former Republican Aides Shepherd Whistle-Blowers Through Congress". New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  17. ^ "Democrats question Hunter Biden whistleblower's claim of nonpartisanship". NBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  18. ^ a b "Jim Jordan's first FBI whistleblowers face scrutiny from skeptical Democrats". CNN. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  19. ^ Katz, Eric (April 7, 2023). "Appeals Panel for Feds No Longer Whole As Former Board Member Runs for Office". Government Executive. Retrieved September 18, 2023.
  20. ^ "Office Romances Don't Have to Hurt Business". The Universe. October 19, 2006. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  21. ^ "BYU Political Affairs Society to Kick-Off Inaugural National Conference this Week". UtahPolicy.com. May 13, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
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