{"id":599953,"date":"2021-07-22T11:20:16","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=599953"},"modified":"2021-07-22T11:20:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T15:20:19","slug":"senate-committee-splits-along-party-lines-on-bidens-land-management-nominee-amid-tree-spiking-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-committee-splits-along-party-lines-on-bidens-land-management-nominee-amid-tree-spiking-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Committee Splits Along Party Lines On Biden\u2019s Land Management Nominee Amid Tree-Spiking Scandal"},"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\">28<\/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%2Fsenate-committee-splits-along-party-lines-on-bidens-land-management-nominee-amid-tree-spiking-scandal%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=599953&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--><ul>\n<li><strong>The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee split along party lines during a vote Thursday on President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Democrats unanimously backed the nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, amid fierce Republican opposition due to her involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism incident.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has the option to discharge Stone-Manning\u2019s nomination and bring it before the full Senate for a vote, where she is unlikely to garner any Republican support.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee split along party lines during a Thursday morning vote on President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats on the committee unanimously backed the nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, in the face of fierce Republican opposition due to her involvement in a 1989 eco-terrorism incident and her alleged dishonesty to the committee about the incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTracy Stone-Manning collaborated with eco-terrorists. She lied to this committee, and she continues to harbor extremist views most Americans find reprehensible,\u201d Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the ranking member of the committee, said before the vote. \u201cShe is thoroughly disqualified to hold the position of director of land management.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Energy Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia rejected Barrasso\u2019s argument, saying that he was unable to find any credible evidence in the trial record that Stone-Manning personally spiked any trees, conspired with eco-terrorists or lied to his committee.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMs. Stone-Manning was never charged with spiking trees. She was never tried for spiking trees. And none of the men who did spike the trees ever suggested that she did. Nor was she a target in the investigation, despite being many to provide evidence in the investigation,\u201d Manchin said. \u201cBeing called to testify before a grand jury does not make someone a target of a grand jury investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the committee\u2019s 10-10 vote on Stone-Manning\u2019s confirmation, Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will have the option to discharge her nomination and bring it before the full Senate for a vote.<\/p>\n<p>Stone-Manning is unlikely to receive any Republican support in the Senate if the full chamber holds a vote on her nomination. Sen. Minority Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/16\/mitch-mcconnell-joe-biden-withdraw-nominee-tracy-stone-manning\/\">Mitch McConnell<\/a> called on Biden on Friday to withdraw her nomination due to her involvement in the 1989 eco-terrorism incident.<\/p>\n<p>With the Senate split 50-50, Stone-Manning will need Vice President Kamala Harris to break a tie if a vote is divided along party lines, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/20\/climate\/tracy-stone-manning-blm.html\">The New York Times<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Caller News Foundation first <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/11\/tracy-stone-manning-tree-spiking-bureau-land-management\/\">reported<\/a> the contents of an anonymous and threatening letter Stone-Manning sent to the Forest Service in 1989 on behalf of her former roommate and friend warning that a local forest in Idaho set to be logged had been sabotaged with tree spikes, a known eco-terrorism tactic.<\/p>\n<p>Stone-Manning told the Senate Energy Committee in writing in May she had never been the target of a federal criminal investigation, but numerous news reports, accounts of federal law enforcement officials and statements from Stone-Manning herself at the time of the tree spiking incident strongly suggest she was a target of the federal government\u2019s investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Stone-Manning was among seven individuals subpoenaed in 1989 by federal law enforcement officials investigating the incident. The subpoena forced her to provide fingerprints, palm prints, handwriting samples and hair samples to a federal grand jury, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/scholarworks.umt.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=9226&amp;context=studentnewspaper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Montana Kaimin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Stone-Manning herself was quoted in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/newspapers?nid=1314&amp;dat=19900805&amp;id=3tRYAAAAIBAJ&amp;sjid=hfADAAAAIBAJ&amp;pg=7080,2581399\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">1990 news article<\/a> expressing her anger at the \u201cdegrading\u201d experience the FBI subjected her to during their investigation. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/23\/joe-biden-bureau-of-land-management-forest-service\/\">(RELATED: \u2018Stop At Two\u2019: Biden BLM Nominee Argued For Population Control In Graduate Thesis)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was degrading. It changed my awareness of the power of the government,\u201d Stone-Manning said. \u201cYes, this was happening to me and not someone in Panama. And, yes, the government does do bad things sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The lead Forest Service investigator in the case, Michael Merkley, said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/06\/17\/john-barrasso-tracy-stone-manning-biden-withdraw-nomination\/\">letter<\/a> to the Senate Energy Committee on July 14 that Stone-Manning was \u201cextremely difficult to work with; in fact, she was the nastiest of the suspects\u201d during the initial stages of his investigation in 1989.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was vulgar, antagonistic and extremely anti-government,\u201d Merkley said. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/07\/15\/michael-merkley-stone-manning-tree-spiking-letter\/\">(RELATED: Lead Investigator Comes Forward, Says Biden\u2019s BLM Nominee Was \u2018Extremely Anti-Government\u2019 And Actively Involved In 1989 Eco-Terrorism Incident)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Merkley said he learned years later from the ex-girlfriend of one of the individuals who was later convicted for spiking the trees that Stone-Manning was the person responsible for mailing the anonymous and threatening letter to the Forest Service.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7212012\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"33\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7212012\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7212012 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter.jpg\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter.jpg 649w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter-132x120.jpg 132w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter-620x565-1.jpg 620w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter-768x700-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter-1536x1401-1.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Stone-Manning-letter-2048x1868-1.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7212012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tracy Stone-Manning\u2019s written testimony to the Senate Energy &amp; Natural Resources Committee. (screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>While Stone-Manning received legal immunity from prosecution in 1993 to testify against the suspects in the tree-spiking incident, Merkley said she was no hero in the matter and that her refusal to cooperate with authorities in 1989 set his investigation back by years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLet me be clear. Ms. Stone-Manning only came forward after her attorney struck the immunity deal, and not before she was caught. At no time did she come forward of her own volition, and she was never entirely forthcoming,\u201d Merkley wrote. \u201cShe was aware that she was being investigated in 1989 and again in 1993 when she agreed to the immunity deal with the government to avoid criminal felony prosecution. I know, because I was the Special Agent in Charge of the Investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One of the individuals convicted in the matter, John Blount, told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eenews.net\/articles\/blm-nominee-expected-to-squeak-through-committee-vote-today\/\">E&amp;E News<\/a> that Stone-Manning knew of their plans to spike the local forest well in advance, but she was not involved in planning or executing the mission.<\/p>\n<p>Stone-Manning told local media outlets at the time of the trial she waited until 1993 to inform federal authorities of her role in sending the letter because she was scared Blount would threaten her life. She also said she has always denounced tree spiking.<\/p>\n<p>All 10 Republican members of the Senate Energy Committee called on Biden to withdraw Stone-Manning\u2019s nomination in a July 14 letter.<\/p>\n<p>The letter said her involvement in the incident, as well as her \u201cfalse and misleading statements\u201d to the committee about the incident, should disqualify her from leading the Bureau of Land Management.<\/p>\n<p>The White House has remained supportive of the nominee amid the blowback.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTracy Stone-Manning is a dedicated public servant who has years of experience and a proven track record of finding solutions and common ground when it comes to our public lands and waters,\u201d a White House official previously told the DCNF. \u201cShe is exceptionally qualified to be the next Director of the Bureau of Land Management.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Democrats on the Senate Energy Committee said Republicans are trying to smear Stone-Manning with their fixation on the 1989 tree-spiking incident.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Tracy Stone-Manning I know is someone who spent the last 20-years-plus bringing people together from both sides of the aisle from all components of industry,\u201d Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/07\/20\/climate\/tracy-stone-manning-blm.html\">the NYT.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico hailed Stone-Manning\u2019s \u201cspotless\u201d career, according to E&amp;E News.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd [Republicans] are reaching back to her youth, to try to tar and feather her, because she\u2019s been involved in politics in Montana,\u201d Heinrich said. \u201cI find it pretty ironic that all of these folks who\u2019ve effectively ignored the domestic terrorism of Jan. 6 are suddenly very interested in what happened in the 1980s.\u201d<\/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>The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee split along party lines during a vote Thursday on President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Democrats unanimously backed &#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-599953","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\/599953","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=599953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599953\/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=599953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}