{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-boebert-demands-ethics-accountability-biden-bureaucrat", "Rep. Boebert Demands Ethics Accountability from Biden Bureaucrat", "2021-06-03", "2021", "2021-06", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Lauren Boebert", "B000825", "boebert.house.gov", "boebert", "https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Today, Representative Lauren Boebert (CO-03) partnered with House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman and Congressman Paul Gosar in standing up for ethics in public service by sending a letter requesting Department of the Interior ethics officials and Ms. Klein to disclose her recusal list to the Committee.\n\nRep. Lauren Boebert stated: \u201cAt the last hearing she testified at, I called out Ms. Elizabeth Klein for spending the last few years infiltrating state attorneys general offices with partisan hacks funded by Michael Bloomberg and now infiltrating the federal government by spewing Bloomberg\u2019s propaganda as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of the Interior. She agreed that she would provide me a copy of her ethics recusals, but I haven\u2019t seen it yet. Ms. Klein should be recused from all of her conflicts of interest, but there are so many, that she should be recused from public service. She does not work on behalf of the American people\u2014she works on behalf of Michael Bloomberg.\u201d\n\nBackground:\n\nAt a hearing last week, Rep. Boebert grilled Ms. Klein on her ethical conflicts of interest and secured a commitment from Ms. Klein to provide the House Committee on Natural Resources her recusal list. As of the date of the letter, Ms. Klein and the Department of the Interior have not complied with the Committee\u2019s request to receive the recusal list, and this letter demands it by no later than 5:00 p.m. on June 4th.\n\nSenior federal employees are required to be transparent in their ethical obligations and act impartially, placing their sole loyalty to the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Ms. Klein\u2019s history of infiltrating state governments with Michael Bloomberg minions and supporting lawsuits against the federal government makes it impossible for her to meet the ethical obligations that her position of public trust requires.\n\nAs Deputy Director at the New York University School of Law\u2019s State Energy & Environmental Impact Center (SEEIC), she controversially placed and paid the salaries of legal fellows in state attorneys general offices to advance Mr. Bloomberg\u2019s radical environmental agenda. The use of private money to conduct public business is ethically questionable, and Indiana\u2019s Attorney General categorized Ms. Klein\u2019s program as an \u201carrangement through which a private organization or individual can promote an overtly political agenda by paying the salaries of government employees.\u201d\n\nIn just the first year of the program, SEEIC fellows participated in filing at least 130 regulatory, legal, and other challenges to federal environmental policies. Now, Ms. Klein is working for the federal government and is on the other side of the lawsuits that she helped file. This is an ethical problem, since under President Biden\u2019s own ethics rules, she is prohibited from participating in matters involving her former employer.\n\nRead the full text of the letter HERE and below.\n\nSenior leaders at federal agencies are responsible for fostering cultures of ethical conduct. Employees unable to act impartially are not qualified to perform their role in government. To ensure appropriate conduct, the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE) issues ethical standards by which all executive branch employees must abide. OGE standards require employees to \u201cplace loyalty to the Constitution, the laws, and ethical principles above private gain\u201d and \u201cact impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual.\u201d Transparency is key to ensuring federal employees\u2019 compliance with OGE\u2019s standards.\n\nPrior to Ms. Klein\u2019s current position as Senior Counselor to the Secretary, she was the Deputy Director at the New York University School of Law\u2019s State Energy & Environmental\n\nImpact Center (SEEIC). During Ms. Klein\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.\n\nMs. Klein\u2019s placement of fellows was criticized because the program used \u201cspecial interest money for targeted government action . . . .\u201d Several state attorneys general opposed the use of SEEIC fellows in their offices. For example, the Office of the Attorney General of Wisconsin determined SEEIC\u2019s program was illegal and would create a conflict of interest. Georgia\u2019s Attorney General also expressed concerns, doubting \u201cthe ability of these [fellowship] lawyers to represent a state in an unbiased manner.\u201d Indiana\u2019s Attorney General categorized the program as an \u201carrangement through which a private organization or individual can promote an overtly political agenda by paying the salaries of government employees.\u201d Additionally, Virginia went as far to prohibit participation in SEEIC\u2019s program through an amendment to the state budget.\n\nAs Senior Counselor to the Secretary, Ms. Klein is subject to President Biden\u2019s ethics standards. Therefore, for two years, Ms. Klein is prohibited from participating in \u201cany particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to [her] former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts.\u201d Under these standards, Ms. Klein\u2019s 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.\n\nAdditionally, DOI requires recusal from issues \u201cin order to avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest.\u201d The agency deems recusal \u201cappropriate when a conflict of interest exists between an employee\u2019s job duties and . . . certain business or personal relationships or outside activities.\u201d\n\nAt a House Committee on Natural Resources (Committee) hearing, Representative Lauren Boebert inquired about Ms. Klein\u2019s compliance with ethical obligations. A partial transcript of the exchange between Representative Boebert and Ms. Klein follows:\n\nRepresentative Boebert: 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. Has the ethics office at the Department provided you with a recusal list? Yes or no.\n\nMs. Klein: Thank you for that question. Yes, I have been consulting on an ongoing basis with our ethics officials and am taking my responsibilities and ethics requirements seriously and I have an ethics agreement that I operate under.\n\nRepresentative Boebert: So, you have been provided with a recusal list. Who and what matters are you currently recused from and would you provide the Committee with that full list?\n\nMs. Klein: I am happy to provide the list.\n\nSubsequent to the hearing, questions submitted for the record repeated the request for Ms. Klein\u2019s recusal list. Ms. Klein has failed to produce her recusal list. In order to honor Ms. Klein\u2019s commitment and assist with our oversight activities, please produce Ms. Klein\u2019s recusal list as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m., June 4, 2021.\n\nAdditionally, please provide the following documents as soon as possible, but no later than 5:00 p.m., June 10, 2021:", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:57:00Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://boebert.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-boebert-demands-ethics-accountability-biden-bureaucrat"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4887640718370676, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}