A watchdog organization is pressing the Department of Health and Human Services for information related to a potential conflict of interest in its management of the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Empower Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) public records request Wednesday with HHS for records related to the Polaris Project, the nonprofit being paid to run the human trafficking hotline, and its co-founder Katherine Chon, who is now the director of HHS’s office of trafficking in persons.

“This is a matter of urgent public safety and accountability,” said Empower Oversight president Tristan Leavitt.

“The hotline’s integrity is paramount, and these serious allegations demand full transparency from HHS. The public deserves to know whether the grant process has been compromised.”

Empower Oversight is asking for all communications about Polaris and the human trafficking hotline involving Chon and other HHS employees, and all communications between Chon and Polaris dating back to 2007, when Polaris began receiving taxpayer funds to administer the hotline.

National Review previously reported on Chon’s ties to Polaris and the possibility of a conflict of interest. HHS is currently considering whether to renew its grant to Polaris to run the human trafficking hotline. The agency is providing up to $9 million to run the hotline and application deadlines are Friday.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) also raised the issue of Chon’s ties to Polaris in a letter revealing whistleblower disclosures about Polaris’s alleged mismanagement of the human trafficking hotline and failure to bring tips to law enforcement. NR first reported on Grassley’s letter to HHS and his oversight of the concerns raised by the whistleblower and a coalition of over 40 state attorneys general.

“Legally protected whistleblower disclosures provided to my office appear to confirm the allegations that Polaris is not reporting instances of potential human trafficking to law enforcement,” Grassley said.

His letter cited multiple cases disclosed by the whistleblower where hotline staffers failed to report concerning cases with “high indicators” of trafficking, meaning law enforcement was not alerted to those situations.

The bipartisan group of attorneys general wrote a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in April sounding the alarm about Polaris’s failures and to ask Kennedy to ensure the hotline is able to rebuild its relationship with law enforcement.

“The National Human Trafficking Hotline had long been an integral part of our work, until it was discovered a few years ago that the organization awarded the grant to run the Hotline, Polaris, was no longer sharing tips from concerned citizens and distressed family members with local law enforcement,” the attorneys general said.

“Without those tips, our law enforcement loses critical leads to dismantling trafficking operations. We also lose valuable leads to rescuing the victims of trafficking and helping them begin the road to recovery.”

The Trump administration has said it will prioritize sex trafficking in its law enforcement activities, especially as it relates to illegal immigration. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a 24/7 resource for potential victims to seek assistance or informed citizens to come forward with tips about potential trafficking incidents. More than 112,000 cases involving over 210,000 victims have been identified by the hotline since its inception.