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