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Judicial Watch
| Judicial Watch | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Top official: | Thomas Fitton, President |
| Founder(s): | Larry Klayman |
| Year founded: | 1994 |
| Website: | Official website |
Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. As of December 2025, the organization described itself as a "a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law."[1] It used "the open records or freedom of information laws and other tools to investigate and uncover misconduct by government officials and litigation to hold to account politicians and public officials who engage in corrupt activities."[1]
Background
Judicial Watch was established in 1994 as a conservative 501(c)(3) nonprofit judicial and government watchdog organization.[2] As of December 2025, the group was based in Washington, D.C. Judicial Watch, through the Freedom of Information Act among other methods, investigated government officials and filed suits against politicians and public officials.[1] The organization also conducted educational outreach through speeches, op-eds, published research, educational conferences, media outreach, and radio and news television appearances.[1]
As of December 2025, Judicial Watch's website provided the following mission statement:[1]
| “ |
Judicial Watch, Inc. is a conservative, non-partisan educational foundation, which promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law. Through its educational endeavors, Judicial Watch advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people. Judicial Watch fulfills its educational mission through litigation, investigations, and public outreach. The motto of Judicial Watch is “Because no one is above the law”. To this end, Judicial Watch uses the open records or freedom of information laws and other tools to investigate and uncover misconduct by government officials and litigation to hold to account politicians and public officials who engage in corrupt activities. Litigation and the civil discovery process not only uncover information for the education of the American people on anti-corruption issues, but can also provide a basis for civil authorities to criminally prosecute corrupt officials. Judicial Watch seeks to ensure high ethical standards in the judiciary through monitoring activities and the use of the judicial ethics process to hold judges to account. Judicial Watch’s investigation, legal, and judicial activities provide the basis for strong educational outreach to the American people. Judicial Watch’s public education programs include speeches, opinion editorials (op-eds), publications, educational conferences, media outreach, radio and news television appearances, and direct radio outreach through informational commercials and public service announcements. Through its Open Records Project, Judicial Watch also provides training and legal services to other conservatives concerning how to effectively use the Freedom of Information Act and other open records laws to achieve conservative goals of accountability and openness in government. Through its publication The Verdict and occasional special reports, Judicial Watch educates the public about abuses and misconduct by political and judicial officials, and advocates for the need for an ethical, law abiding and moral civic culture. Judicial Watch also pursues this educational effort through this Internet site where many of the open records documents, legal filings, and other educational materials are made available to the public and media. This educational effort, which includes direct mailings to millions of Americans, educates the public about operations of government and the judiciary and increases public awareness if corruption and misconduct exists.[3] |
” |
Leadership
As of December 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at Judicial Watch:[4]
- Thomas Fitton, president
- Paul Orfanedes, director of litigation
- Chris Farrell, director of investigations and research
Work and activities
Education
As of December 2025, Judicial Watch's Open Records Project provided "training and legal services to other conservatives concerning how to effectively use the Freedom of Information Act and other open records laws to achieve conservative goals of accountability and openness in government."[1]
The organization's publication, The Verdict, and other special reports educated "the public about abuses and misconduct by political and judicial officials, and advocate[d] for the need for an ethical, law abiding and moral civic culture."[1]
Judicial Watch also published its open records documents and legal filings on its website.[1]
Amicus brief activity
The following were the U.S. Supreme Court cases for which Judicial Watch filed amicus briefs from 2011 to 2015.
| Amicus briefs filed by Judicial Watch in the U.S. Supreme Court, 2011-2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | ||
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| 2012 | ||
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| 2013 | ||
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| 2014 | ||
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| 2015 | ||
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Finances
The following is a breakdown of Judicial Watch's revenues and expenses from 2014 to 2022. The information comes from the Internal Revenue Service.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | $30.8 million | $21.6 million |
| 2015 | $37.9 million | $24.5 million |
| 2016 | $45.4 million | $30.9 million |
| 2017 | $53.1 million | $32.1 million |
| 2018 | $71.7 million | $40.4 million |
| 2019 | $91.2 million | $49.1 million |
| 2020 | $110 million | $60.4 million |
| 2021 | $124.2 million | $57.5 million |
| 2022 | $102.8 million | $57.4 million |
See also
External links
- Judicial Watch website
- Judicial Watch on X
- Judicial Watch on Facebook
- Judicial Watch on YouTube
- Judicial Watch on Instagram
- Judicial Watch on Truth Social
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Judicial Watch, "About Judicial Watch," accessed December 21, 2025
- ↑ U.S. House's Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, "Opening Statement, Tom Fitton," March 17, 2011
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Judicial Watch Staff Team," accessed December 21, 2025
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Judicial Watch v. National Energy Policy Development Group, et al.," November 1, 2011
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Mark J. McBurney v. Nathaniel L. Young, Deputy Commissioner and Director, Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement," August 30, 2012
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "State of Arizona v. United States of America," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "State of Arizona v. United States of America," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Abigail Noel Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Dennis Hollingsworth, et al. v. Kristen M. Perry, et al.," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al. v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.," November 25, 2014
- ↑ Judicial Watch, "State of North Carolina, et al. v League of Women Voters of North Carolina, et al.," February 5, 2015
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