Members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources recently submitted a follow-up letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) senior counselor secretary Elizabeth Klein to request additional information to measure her ethical compliance.
Members of the committee include Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-AR), Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Ranking Member Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). The letter was also submitted to Director and Designated Agency Ethics Official in the Departmental Ethics Office at the Department of the Interior Heather Gottry.
"Notably, Ms. Klein’s Ethics Guidance on Recusal Obligations memorandum is dated June 4, 2021, and her Ethics Recusals and Screening Arrangement is dated June 5, 2021,” the members wrote. “Therefore, it appears DOI only finalized the process for Ms. Klein’s full compliance with her ethical obligations after our inquiries were made [on June 3, 2021].”
The investigation stemmed from Klein’s testimony to a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee on May 25, during which she committed to providing records of her ethical documents and guidance. Protect the Public's Land Trust (PPT) noted that Klein may have extensive potential conflicts, represented both by her former employer's work and by her husband's lobbying activities.
The committee contacted the department just over a week later, on June 3, to follow up on the documents. On June 10, the department responded to request in a document dated June 4. The ethics documents in place when Ms. Klein testified, those she claimed were in place at the time, were not included in the documents provided. Because they felt their request was not fulfilled, the committee members wrote another letter to obtain the documents they desire.
According to the director of Protect the Public’s Trust, Michael Chamberlain, the timing of the agreements and lack of transparency on behalf of the department raises concerns about Klein’s activities.
“As expected, Elizabeth Klein’s ethics paperwork shows she has a significant list of potential conflicts,” Chamberlain said. “Do she and the department really expect the public to believe she was able to navigate these effectively for nearly five months without an official screening process in place?”
The documents provided list 40 entities, including various lobbying clients attributed by Klein’s husband, and five states she previously represented on behalf of her employers. The organization continues to await the rest of the documentation to verify proper ethical operations.
"While it is encouraging DOI demonstrated its capability of responding to our inquiries, Ms. Klein’s May 25, 2021, the commitment remains unsatisfied," committee members said. "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. DOI also failed to respond to subsequent committee staff emails which requested this information to include Ms. Klein’s interim and updated ethics guidance in addition to a status update on the outstanding request items from our June 3, 2021 letter."
