Investigating Corporate Influence
Political Appointees at the Department of Interior have given special treatment to ex-clients of their boss, David Bernhardt, the oil lobbyist turned Secretary of the Interior. SUMMARY Top Interior political appointee Katherine Macgregor, soon to be confirmed as Deputy Secretary, helped a former client of Secretary David Bernhardt secure oil and gas drilling permits from …
A new analysis from Documented has found that from 2/15/17 to 10/1/18, there were at least 70 meetings between top DOI political appointees and entities listed on Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s ethics recusal letter. The analysis demonstrates that despite legally binding ethics pledges, Bernhardt’s one time lobbying clients have few fetters on their …
Official documents released by the Department of the Interior reveal that acting Secretary David Bernhardt met with the American Petroleum Institute (API) in Denver, Colorado, on July 26, 2018. Bernhardt was the Deputy Secretary of the Interior at the time. According to travel forms that track travel expenses paid by non-Federal entities, API bought Bernhardt …
Continue reading “David Bernhardt Met With API in a Second Undisclosed Meeting”
Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Department of the Interior has used “unsound science and poor ethics” in an attempt to cut protections for an endangered species of beetle, according to top scientific experts involved in the matter. The species at issue is the American Burying Beetle, whose last remaining habitat includes choice onshore oil and gas fields. This has made …
Vincent DeVito is a Counselor to the Secretary of the Interior on Energy Policy. He was appointed by Ryan Zinke on May 1, 2017. The following source documents reveal Vincent DeVito’s hand in policy actions taken by the Department of the Interior meant to benefit the coal and oil industries. This page contains all relevant materials …
Continue reading “Interior Department’s Vincent DeVito – the documents”
An investigation by The New York Times’ Eric Lipton released March 10th, 2018, describes how the industry-tied Director of the U.S. offshore safety enforcement bureau has cut safety and environmental regulations on the oil industry. New details of that story, released by Documented, reveal that the Director of the Bureau for Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) has …
Visitor logs reveal Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Interior David Bernhardt met with American Petroleum Institute (API) CEO Jack Gerard and API lobbyist Carrie Domnitch in an undisclosed meeting on September 22, 2017. Deputy Secretary Bernhardt’s calendar shows a scheduled “Meeting to Discuss Energy Issues” but does not mention attendees outside of the …
Continue reading “David Bernhardt meets API CEO Jack Gerard in undisclosed meeting”
During a recent presentation to an oil and gas legal symposium in Austin, TX, industry lobbyist Benjamin Sebree provided an unusually frank assessment of how the industry fared during the 2017 Texas legislative session. In his presentation, which took place on February 2, 2018, Sebree outlined how multiple bills adopted during the past legislative session directly benefited …