WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Climate activist turned Biden administration official Elizabeth Klein is facing heightened scrutiny over possible conflicts of interest stemming from her affiliation with the controversial State Energy & Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC), a Bloomberg-funded organization at New York University's School of Law.
Three House Republicans sent a letter on Tuesday requesting that Klein provide her recusal list as well as details about the efforts she has made to comply with ethical obligations given her recent work history. Before accepting her current position as senior counselor to the Secretary Deb Haaland, Klein served as deputy director of the SEEIC, where she helped facilitate efforts to embed prepaid activist lawyers into attorneys general offices in various blue states.
According to the letter, while Klein complied with some of the requests for information, she has continued to stall on sending the recusal list and ethics guidance Republicans initially asked for when she testified before Congress during a subcommittee hearing on May 25.
"While it is encouraging DOI demonstrated its capability of responding to our inquiries, Ms. Klein’s May 25, 2021, commitment remains unsatisfied. Nearly a month later, the Committee has not received the recusal list or ethics guidance under which Ms. Klein was operating when she testified before Congress in May," the June 22 letter stated.
The letter was drafted by Natural Resources ranking member Bruce Westerman (R-AR) along with Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations ranking member Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and U.S Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). It followed a previous letter sent on June 3, in which the three representatives outlined their concerns about Klein's background and lack of transparency.
"As Senior Counselor to the Secretary, Ms. Klein is subject to President Biden’s ethics standards. Therefore, for two years, Ms. Klein is prohibited from participating in 'any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to [her] former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts,'" the initial letter written on June 3 explained. "Under these standards, Ms. Klein’s participation in the decision making process for any issue related to the specific regulatory or legal challenges advocated by SEEIC fellows she placed in state attorneys general offices is questionable at best."
Republicans have further alleged that Klein failed to provide required paperwork dating back to January when she first joined the Biden administration. In addition, the Interior Department has neglected to respond to numerous emails sent by committee staff which asked for status updates on Klein's efforts to provide the requested information, according to the letter.
As previously reported by Legal Newsline, Klein was pressed by Rep. Boebert about her apparent ethical conflicts last month at a Water, Oceans and Wildlife subcommittee hearing. Her nomination for deputy secretary of the Interior was withdrawn by the Biden administration in March amidst pressure from senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
Manchin, who chairs the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, voiced concerns about Klein's allegedly unsympathetic views toward traditional energy sources. He has a vested interest in ensuring that his substantial coal mining constituency is represented during energy talks. Murkowski, who hails from one of the nation's most energy-rich states and also serves on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee, has similarly expressed concerns about Klein's efforts to back litigation against businesses in the fossil fuel sector.
Following a series of questions from House Republicans about her involvement with the SEEIC and the group's efforts to embed privately funded attorneys in attorneys general offices, Klein agreed to provide her recusal list.
While addressing Klein directly, Boebert emphasized that the concerns about Klein's activist history spanned both sides of the aisle.
“Ms. Klein, the White House pulled your potential nomination to be the deputy Secretary because your conflicts of interest were so severe that you faced bipartisan opposition," said Boebert at the May 25 subcommittee hearing. "I believe it's incredibly important that Ms. Klein be recused from all matters she directly worked on while in the private sector... that she be recused from all matters being worked on by those she hired and placed in assistant Attorney General's offices and she should be recused from working for any American taxpayers. Period."
Ms. Klein responded by stating that she was "happy to provide information about the work of the Center," but the documents she promised to produce remain outstanding.
Bloomberg-funded fellows are currently serving in the attorneys general offices in ten blue states and the District of Columbia as a result of the SEEIC's activities. Several other states, including Wisconsin, Georgia, and Indiana, have opposed the use of the special interest-backed lawyers, arguing that the program created a conflict of interest. Virginia went so far as to pass an amendment to the state budget to prevent participation in the SEEIC's program.
The SEEIC's lawyers have played key roles in carrying out lawsuits against traditional fossil fuel companies - including ExxonMobil, BP and Citgo - for allegedly contributing to climate change.
"During Ms. Klein’s tenure, the SEEIC, established through a six-million-dollar donation from former presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, controversially placed and paid the salaries of legal fellows in state attorneys general offices to advance Mr. Bloomberg’s environmental agenda. In just the first year of the program, SEEIC fellows participated in filing at least 130 regulatory, legal, and other challenges to federal environmental policies," said the June 3 letter. “Ms. Klein’s placement of fellows was criticized because the program used ‘special interest money for targeted government action.'"