{"id":598840,"date":"2021-07-21T11:50:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-21T15:50:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=598840"},"modified":"2021-07-21T11:50:26","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T15:50:26","slug":"watchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-potentially-egregious-ethics-violation-by-biden-admin-appointee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-potentially-egregious-ethics-violation-by-biden-admin-appointee\/","title":{"rendered":"Watchdog Group Demands Investigation Into Potentially \u2018Egregious\u2019 Ethics Violation By Biden Admin Appointee"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwatchdog-group-demands-investigation-into-potentially-egregious-ethics-violation-by-biden-admin-appointee%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=598840&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A government watchdog group filed a complaint Tuesday demanding the Department of the Interior investigate whether a Biden administration political appointee committed an \u201cegregious\u201d ethics violation when he rescinded a directive in June.<\/p>\n<p>The appointee, Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources Daniel Cordalis, rescinded a Jan. 14 memo that, according to watchdog group Protect the Public\u2019s Trust, likely delivered a financial boon to the Northern California-based Yurok Tribe, a group that he used to represent in legal matters and that currently employs his wife.<\/p>\n<p>The memo Cordalis rescinded was penned by nonpolitical career officials and would have reduced revenue for the Central Valley Project Improvement (CVPIA), a program that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search\/?hash=924fb8214a35f7a0733aa82a6fecff1e\">delivered<\/a> at least $30.8 million in grants to the Yurok Tribe since 2013.<\/p>\n<p>Cordalis <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Cordalis-Memo-6.11.21.pdf\">rescinded<\/a> the memo June 11 and ordered staff at the Interior Department to reconsider the decision in light of an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/01\/20\/executive-order-protecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis\/\">executive order<\/a> signed by President Joe Biden on his first day in office ordering all executive departments to rescind Trump-era actions that don\u2019t advance \u201cenvironmental justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, the move could benefit the Yurok Tribe, and thus likely constitutes a \u201cblatant and egregious violation of ethics commitments\u201d due to Cordalis\u2019 close relationship with the tribe, Protect the Public Trust said in a press release.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith the January memo, it\u2019s possible that some of that funding could be reduced,\u201d Protect the Public Trust director Michael Chamberlain told the Daily Caller News Foundation. \u201cSo the tribe, as it\u2019s spelled out in our complaint, has a definite financial interest in the policy discussed in the memo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The watchdog group said in a press release Tuesday that there was no ethics waiver in the Office of Government Ethics showing that Cordalis was granted a waiver prior to rescinding the memo. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/02\/15\/deb-haaland-interior-profited-fossil-fuels\/\">(RELATED: Biden\u2019s Anti-Drilling Interior Nominee Once Led Company That Profited From Fossil Fuels)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe American public has every right to demand that high-ranking federal officials act in the best interests of the public, not the interests of former employers and clients or their spouse\u2019s employers,\u201d Chamberlain said in the press release. \u201cThe Biden Administration promised \u2018the most ethically vigorous administration in history.\u2019 At what point does Secretary [Deb] Haaland begin holding her staff to that high standard? Unfortunately, with multiple reports of misconduct among Interior appointees under review, the public is wondering whether there is a \u2018culture of conflicts\u2019 among current DOI leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7241618\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"32\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7241618\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7241618 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-scaled-1.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-183x120.jpg 183w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-620x407-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-768x504-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-1536x1009-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Biden-Haaland-2048x1345-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7241618\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Joe Biden with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland. (SAUL LOEB\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Cordalis\u2019 move to rescind the memo and the potential financial boon it provided to the Yurok Tribe also caught the attention of top Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, the ranking member of the committee, and Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona sent a letter to Cordalis Tuesday asking for documents related to his move to rescind the memo.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources, Mr. Cordalis is subject to President Biden\u2019s ethics standards. Therefore, for two years, Mr. Cordalis is prohibited from participating in \u2018any particular matter involving specific parties that is directly and substantially related to [his] former employer or former clients, including regulations and contracts,&#8217;\u201d Westerman and Gosar wrote in their letter. \u201cThe financial implications of his June 11, 2021 memorandum, particularly for the Yurok Tribe, call Mr. Cordalis\u2019 compliance with President Biden\u2019s standards into question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>An Interior Department spokeswoman declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A government watchdog group filed a complaint Tuesday demanding the Department of the Interior investigate whether a Biden administration political appointee committed an \u201cegregious\u201d ethics violation when he rescinded a &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-598840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}