Stewart Whitson

About Stewart

Stewart Whitson is the Legal Director at the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA), where he oversees all legal research, analysis, and strategy efforts in support of FGA’s state and federal policy work.

Prior to joining FGA, Stewart served in the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent leading a large Section in the FBI’s Directorate of Intelligence. Earlier in his career, Stewart served as the FBI’s lead investigator following the first ISIS-claimed attack upon the U.S. homeland and deployed to Iraq, Jordan, and Eastern Europe in support of other FBI investigations. Stewart served as a member of the FBI SWAT team and as an FBI-certified legal advisor for national security related matters.

Stewart is also a U.S. Army veteran, having personally led more than 300 combat missions in Iraq including a mission that led to the successful rescue of a hostage.

He earned a Juris Doctorate degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, a master’s degree from the George Washington University, and a Certificate in Strategic Management from Georgetown. He is an adjunct professor at Catholic University and a licensed attorney and member of the Minnesota State Bar. Stewart is admitted as an Attorney and Counselor of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Tenth and Eleventh Circuits and has appeared pro hac vice before the Missouri Supreme Court and the Federal District Courts in the Northern District of Georgia and in the Western District of Texas.

Stewart first experienced the value of work as a 10-year-old performing manual labor in the Texas summer heat for his grandfather, a retired Army Command Sergeant Major. Since Stewart’s grandfather refused to pay an hourly wage, instead paying a set price for a specific task completed to standard, Stewart learned early the impact hard work could have on income. By getting started early, working with minimal breaks and until the day ended, and always finishing a job once started, Stewart learned he could maximize his earnings while enjoying the sense of pride and dignity that comes at the end of a hard day’s work.

In his free time, Stewart coaches his kids, volunteers with the Knights of Columbus, and enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife, their five young children, and their dog Maggie. Stewart and his family reside near Washington D.C., in Great Falls, Virginia.