Letter Demands Removal Of Interior Assistant Sec. Doug Domenech After Multiple Ethics Violations
HELENA, MT – With the majority of Americans rightfully focused on the ongoing crises, the corruption at President Trump’s Department of the Interior has continued full throttle to the detriment of the agency and the public lands it oversees. But a bicameral Congressional coalition isn’t standing idly by as President Trump and Secretary David Bernhardt allow the culture of corruption to go unchecked. Today, the group sent a letter to Secretary Bernhardt demanding accountability and the removal of Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Doug Domenech for his flagrant, repeated ethics violations.
“Throughout Trump’s presidency, the Interior Department has been rife with corruption. Secretary Bernhardt has been unwilling to hold his associates accountable because he doesn’t want to be held to the same standard. If Trump’s ethics pledge is worth the paper it’s written on then the administration should move with dispatch to clean up this corruption, starting with removing repeat offender Domenech from his post,” said Jayson O’Neill, Western Values Project Director.
The letter follows a second Interior Inspector General investigation that found Assistant Sec. Domenech had violated ethics laws in an effort to secure a job for a family member. A previous investigation found that Domenech improperly met with his former employer the right-wing Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF). Neither instance has resulted in any punishment or accountability for his actions outside of additional ethics training, which hasn’t seemed to work.
Western Values Project, an Accoutable.US project focused on public lands, has documented the revolving door between special interests and the corrupt actors at the Interior Department on their Department of Influence website. Learn more about Assistant Secretary Domenech and other Interior officials here.
Background:
BREAKING: Senior Trump Interior Official Violated Federal Ethics Laws Again
STATEMENT: Top Interior Official Violated Federal Ethics Rules
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