Today, new reporting by Yahoo News revealed that controversial Interior Solicitor General Daniel Jorjani was in communication with his former employer, the Charles Koch Foundation, during his recusal period to inquire if any “key network participants” within the Koch circle were interested in joining the “top-tier” National Park Foundation board. This information was uncovered in emails obtained by Western Values Project (WVP) through a Freedom of Information Act request.
“In addition to raising serious questions about a potential violation of the administration’s already-dubious ethics pledge, these documents reaffirm that the Trump administration was dead set on politicizing a board that should have been solely focused on supporting America’s national parks,” said Jayson O’Neill, Deputy Director of Western Values Project. “The Trump administration and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s cast of corrupt characters are up to more of the same crooked diablerie threatening the future of America’s public lands and national parks.”
Daniel Jorjani – Interior’s Acting Solicitor at the time – used his position within the department to solicit his former employer, the Charles Koch Foundation. Documents obtained by WVP show that Jorjani offered his allies within the Koch network the opportunity to recommend nominees for the foundation’s board.
O’Neill continued, “Interior Solicitor Daniel Jorjani’s request to his former Koch Foundation employer for politically connected board recommendations only adds insult to injury given the pending proposal to privatize and monetize national parks. This is part of a much larger mission, clearly fostered by the Trump administration’s culture of corruption.”
Shortly after the Jorjani email exchange, the Trump administration added Susan LaPierre, co-chair of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) Women’s Leadership Forum and wife of the organization’s Executive Director Wayne LaPierre, to the National Park Foundation board. The NRA receives funding from the Koch network and spent some $30 million supporting the Trump presidential campaign. It is now clear that former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke bypassed the standard board selection process in adding LaPierre.
Background:
Previously, Jorjani was considered a “key Koch employee” and worked his way into being one of the Koch network’s “highest paid employees.” Jorjani was confirmed to his top spot at Interior in September, despite potentially perjuring himself under oath about his role in the politicization of public records requests process.
Further, Western Values Project and several other groups requested and provided supplemental information to investigators after they discovered that pages of documents were improperly withheld from public documents requests by political appointees at Interior, which may be a violation of the law. Jorjani is currently under investigation by Interior’s internal watchdog, the Inspector General’s Office.
Jorjani has also helped craft some of the Interior’s most controversial legal decisions that have benefited industry and special interests, such as undermining the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Jorjani has worked to reverse a previous departmental ruling that renewed the copper and nickel mining leases for a Chilean mining company, Twin Metals, on the border of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
America’s National Parks have recently come under striking threat from the Trump administration. The “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee was an industry-laden Trump administration plot intended to push a controversial national park privatization effort. Though recently disbanded due to widespread outrage and concern, the privatization proposal is still being considered according to the acting director of the National Park Service David Vela.
Previously, the committee issued a memo outlining changes to America’s national parks, including privatizing park campgrounds, rolling “blackout” dates for seniors, food trucks, delivery services, and fee increases. The move would have hurt working Americans while filling the pockets of Trump donors who stand to benefit from lucrative contracts.