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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Watchdogs question whether Klein got 'backdoor workaround' on ethics waiver at Interior

Climate Change
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Elizabeth Klein | zoom photo

WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Energy Policy Advocates says that emails it has obtained through Freedom of Information litigation appear to show an "appointee-friendly" approach was used to approve an ethics waiver for Interior Department senior counselor Elizabeth Klein, whose past climate advocacy took positions adverse to the Department.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled for EPA, ordering Interior to provide all responsive documents until processing is complete. 

“As glad as we are breaking through the stonewall that the Interior erected when faced with requests for public records, the documents released and Interior’s withholding of attachments to the emails, appear to raise more questions rather than providing any answers,” said Robert Schilling, EPA executive director, in a joint press release with another watchdog group, Protect the Public Trust (PPT). 

"Was Interior looking out for the public, or creating backdoor workarounds for high-level officials faced with ethical issues?”

EPA filed the lawsuit against the DOI in federal court after Interior refused to produce ethics and recusal memoranda about Klein, whose name was withdrawn as a nominee for deputy secretary of Interior in March because of her previous advocacy against the fossil fuels industry.

The organization argues that Klein sought to have the DOI grant her a "502 authorization" ethics waiver so she could deal with issues involving her former clients while employed by DOI.

The DOI declined to comment.

“Nothing from us on this,” Giovanni Rocco, DOI deputy press secretary, told Legal Newsline.

As previously reported, Klein served as deputy director of the Michael Bloomberg-funded State Energy & Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC) at the New York University (NYU) School of Law, which paid the salaries of climate activists who were placed in state attorneys general offices to advance a climate change agenda through litigation.

The D.C. district court ordered the DOI to "process at least 400 potentially responsive pages [of Klein ethics docs] each month until processing is complete [and] shall issue an interim response on the 23rd of each month until processing is complete.’

But after receiving the first batch of publicly released documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, EPA accuses DOI ethics officials of developing non-standard language that departs from the typical restrictions imposed on appointees facing Senate confirmation, according to a press release.

As a result, the watchdogs are now questioning whether the Biden Administration is changing the long-standing interpretation of the 502 ethics regulation with an "extraordinary step" to accommodate Klein.

“The Biden Administration is touting itself as the most ethical in history, but the Department of the Interior certainly doesn’t appear to have gotten that message,” stated Michael Chamberlain, director of PPT. “From the beginning of this administration they’ve been acting as if they have something to hide and, with the documents EPA was able to obtain after filing suit, it appears they probably do."

The records production by the DOI followed EPA’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

“Both Klein and her employer (the Impact Center) provided legal representation and assistance to at least 17 states and the District of Columbia, including on ‘particular matters’ adverse to the Department,” the motion states.

The parties are due back in court on Sept. 27 to assess FOIA document production.

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