Global Courant 2023-04-18 10:50:31
EXCLUSIVE: A watchdog group filed two federal lawsuits Monday against the Biden administration, alleging that it violated federal law by not sharing communications involving the daughter of Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a nonprofit watchdog organization, asked a federal court in the lawsuits — one filed against the Department of the Interior (DOI) and the other filed against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — to force the two agencies to fulfill her requests for information. On January 2, PPT filed requests for information with the DOI and BLM, requesting communications with Haaland’s daughter Somah and top agency officials.
The requests for information, filed under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires the federal government to publicly share certain documents, notices and information with the public, came after a Fox News Digital report revealed that Somah Haaland had lobbied federal lawmakers over hot-button oil and gas lease issues overseen by her mother.
“Her daughter’s activism and lobbying efforts certainly have the potential to create a public perception that Secretary Haaland could become conflicted on issues under her authority,” PPT director Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital. Complicating matters further is the participation of an organization claiming Somah Haaland as one of its leaders in the protest that turned into a riot at Home Office headquarters.
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Somah Haaland, the daughter of Home Secretary Deb Haaland, is speaking at a virtual event hosted by The Wilderness Society in October. (The Wilderness Society/YouTube/video screenshot)
“Each of these items alone would indicate the need for DOI to provide greater transparency in all relationships and interactions between Somah Haaland and senior Department officials,” Chamberlain added. “Taken together, this need is magnified.”
In December, Fox News Digital reported that Somah Haaland, who is a media organizer for the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA), a New Mexico-based cultural and environmental group, traveled to Washington, D.C. with a group of fellow climate activists to ask lawmakers and federal officials to block drilling for fossil fuels near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.
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In addition to lobbying lawmakers, the activists screened a film narrated by Somah Haaland that “shows the threats” posed by oil and gas leasing in the region. Senator Martin Heinrich, D.N.M., and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, DN.M., attended the screening along with “agency officials.”
PPT’s inquiry in early January called for all communications about the film between Somah Haaland and seven DOI officials, including her mother, and two BLM officials, including the agency’s director, Tracy Stone-Manning. In the group’s lawsuit on Monday, it said that both the DOI and BLM have still not provided the requested information and likely have no intention of complying with their legal FOIA obligations.
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks at a press conference on July 22, 2021 in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
“The Biden administration promised a return to normalcy, but Interior leaders’ ties to activist organizations that sometimes employ controversial tactics represent anything but a return to normalcy,” Chamberlain said.
In 2021, the PAA was involved in a violent protest in which climate activists stormed and attempted to break through the DOI’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. Julia Bernal, executive director of the PAA, boasted in an interview that same year that she had personally met Secretary Haaland, whom she referred to as “Auntie Deb”, to speak about water policy issues and the group’s opposition to oil and gas leasing.
Following the recent revelations about Somah Haaland’s activism, the Western Energy Alliance, a major Denver-based energy industry group, asked House Natural Resources chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., in March to open an investigation into the apparent ethical violations of the Home Secretary. A spokesman for Westerman said the congressman has received the request and is studying possible next steps.
Meanwhile, Secretary Haaland will testify before the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.
The DOI declined to comment on the PPT’s lawsuits.
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
