President Trump’s Weakening of Ethics Policies may be Resulting in Lucrative Rewards for Political Donors and Past Lobbying Clients.

One of Trump’s First Actions in the White House was Signing Executive Orders to Remove Provisions in Obama-era Ethics Policies that Increase Government Transparency and Ban Individuals from Seeking or Accepting Employment with any Executive Agency that they Lobbied within the Previous Two years.

Secretary Zinke, of the Department of the Interior, has been Criticized by Watchdog Groups and Congressional Investigators for his Personal Financial Dealing with Oil Giant Halliburton, and Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, who spent his Career Lobbying on behalf of Oil and Gas Companies, shows an Unprecedented Culture of Corruption in the Interior Department’s Leadership and the need for Congress to conduct Oversight.

As we have seen throughout this Administration, dismissing Ethical Norms and Dismantling Transparency Creates an Environment where Self-Dealing and Corruption can run amok in our Government with No Accountability.

And as always with Trump Cabinet Members, while they make themselves Rich, they try to bilk Working Families. Most famously, Zinke tried to jack up National Park Fees Astronomically, only to be beaten back to Lower Hikes by widespread Public Outrage.

A New Center for American Progress (CAP) Analysis

The Center for American Progress reviewed Financial and Lobbying Disclosure Forms of Trump Administration Officials, as well as Interior Department Decisions, Media Reports, and other Government Records. The Findings indicate that President Trump’s Interior Department may be establishing a Standard of Behavior that hands out Favorable Decisions, which may carry substantial Financial Benefits, to Political Patrons and Past Clients of senior Political Appointees in the Department of the Interior (DOI). In some cases, by doing so, the Department has Dismissed Ethical Norms. This Pattern of Behavior mirrors the Culture of Corruption that has taken root in President Trump’s White House, at former Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Environmental Protection Agency, and in other Trump Administration Cabinet Agencies.

Zinke’s own Behaviors and Actions, from his Real Estate Deal with Lesar to his Mixing of Political, Personal, and Government Business on Taxpayer-Funded Trips, create an Ethically Questionable Culture within the DOI’s Leadership. Yet it is Zinke’s Deputy Secretary, David Bernhardt, previously a Lobbyist on Issues he now Oversees, who appears to be a Central Figure in a carefully constructed Clientelistic system for Dispensing Political Favors. The Authors of this Report Characterize this system as the Interior Department’s “Favor Factory.”

Bernhardt, who Led then-President-Elect Trump’s Transition Team for the DOI, first Served in the DOI as a Political Appointee in the Administration of former President George W. Bush. He served as Senior Aide to then Interior Secretary Gale Norton before being promoted to Serve as the DOI’s Top Lawyer. As Solicitor, Bernhardt Authored several controversial Legal Opinions, including ones that made it more Difficult to Designate Endangered Species. After leaving the Department in 2009, Bernhardt Rejoined the Washington, D.C., Office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where he Lobbied for Mining Companies, Oil and Gas Companies, Powerful Water Users in the West, and other groups that have a Financial Interest in Decisions that are made by the DOI. In August 2017, he was sworn in as Interior’s Deputy Secretary.

This Report explores Three notable Features of the Favor Factory at the DOI:

First, it Examine how Trump Administration Political Appointees at the DOI can Exploit Weakened Federal Ethics Guidelines to Work in Positions where they can deliver Favorable Decisions to Past Clients and Mask their Portfolio of Responsibilities from Public Inspection.

Second, it Analyzes recent DOI Decisions that are Favorable to Past Clients of former Lobbyists and Litigants who are working in Trump’s DOI.

Finally, the Report Examines some of the Operational Characteristics of the DOI’s Favor Factory that Mask it from Public View.

This Report does not make any Claims that Trump Administration Officials at the DOI have Violated any Federal Laws or Regulations; rather, it describes the contours of what is currently Known and Not Known about the Trump Administration’s Practices at the DOI.

The Report lists Four Past Clients of Deputy Secretary Bernhardt who have Received or Stand to Receive Financial Benefits from Specific Decisions by the Trump Administration’s DOI. These Decisions Merit Scrutiny by Congressional Investigators in Order to Determine whether they were made in Accordance with Federal Ethics and Conflict of Interest Statutes and Regulations. In addition, the Report includes a “Watch List,” which Details other Past Clients of Bernhardt who have Significant Policy and Business Interests before the DOI. Congressional Oversight Committees should carefully Monitor the Deputy Secretary’s Engagement on these matters in order to ensure Compliance with his Recusals and Ethics Agreement.

CLICK HERE to read The Center for American Progress (CAP) Analysis.









NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker