DENVER—Today, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed a Secretarial Order formally restructuring the agency’s ethics program. The directive consolidates ethics staff under the Interior Solicitor, a position currently held in an acting capacity by Daniel Jorjani, whose nomination remains stalled after allegations he committed perjury during his confirmation hearing. In response, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:
“Today’s order will only deepen the ethical crisis at the Interior Department’s top levels. The move puts the department’s ethics program squarely in the hands of Daniel Jorjani, a former Koch advisor who has overseen efforts to withhold and delay information from the public and claimed ‘our job is to protect the Secretary.’
“Secretary David Bernhardt at least 20 former clients with business before the department, making him the most conflicted member of President Trump’s cabinet. Bernhardt has already delivered scores of policy favors for his former clients, even directing staff to weaken specific wildlife protections that he once lobbied on.
“Now, Secretary Bernhardt seems to be using Daniel Jorjani as a personal protector, squashing ethics investigations and withholding information from the public and Congress. Make no mistake, the Interior Department’s culture of corruption starts at the top, and only a change in leadership will fix that.”
During his role as acting Interior Solicitor, Daniel Jorjani has overseen the agency’s Freedom of Information Act compliance, which is under investigation for allowing political appointees to delay and withhold documents from the public. Documents show Jorjani routinely reviewed FOIA releases, contradicting his statements in a Senate confirmation hearing, and leading Senator Ron Wyden to call for an investigation into whether Jorjani committed perjury.
As acting Solicitor, Jorjani has also issued numerous controversial legal opinions, including changing a longstanding interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to shield oil and gas companies from liability after spills, moving forward with copper-sulfide mining near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and paving the way for a pipeline that would drain precious water from aquifers beneath Mojave Trails National Monument in California.
Learn more:
- At Interior, David Bernhardt pushed policy favored by former client [New York Times]
- How Interior’s top lawyer is paving the way to drain California’s desert and deliver millions to Secretary Bernhardt’s former law firm [Westwise]
- David Bernhardt, Trump’s walking conflict of interest [Westwise]
- Trump’s Interior Department is delivering policy favors at a breakneck pace [Westwise]
- David Bernhardt is President Trump’s most conflicted cabinet member [Center for American Progress]