Trump’s New Interior Secretary Is Already Under Investigation

(Bloomberg) -- Four days after Donald Trump’s choice for Interior Secretary was confirmed by the Senate, the agency’s inspector general has opened an investigation into the former oil and gas lobbyist.

Secretary David Bernhardt is being investigated, according to letters sent to congressional Democrats and ethics groups who had alleged he had conflicts of interest and potential ethics violations.

Bernhardt, a former energy and natural resources lobbyist, has been accused of using his position to help former clients of his firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP.

Government watchdog groups and lawmakers alleged that Bernhardt may have violated federal ethics rules by participating in matters he lobbied on in the two years before his appointment, specifically by participating in an evaluation of water diversion in California’s Central Valley. Bernhardt previously represented the Westlands Water District in California.

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, separately alleged Bernhardt had intervened to block the release of an agency analysis of the threat that two pesticides pose to endangered species.

“Secretary Bernhardt is in complete compliance with his ethics agreement and all applicable laws, rules, and regulations,” said department spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort. “It is important to note that the department ethics office has already conducted a review of many of these accusations at Mr. Bernhardt’s request.”

The Interior Department’s IG received seven complaints regarding Bernhardt’s ethics, Mary L. Kendall, the deputy inspector general of the Interior Department, wrote in a letter Monday.

“We are continuing to gather pertinent information about the complaints and have opened an investigation to address them,” the letter said.

The Senate confirmed Bernhardt to be Interior secretary by a 56-41 vote last week, after Democrats unsuccessfully sought to stall the nomination over concerns about the mounting requests for government investigations into his behavior as acting secretary.

“This is exactly why I wanted a delay in Bernhardt’s consideration,” Wyden said in a statement. “We now have an Interior Secretary who has been on the job for one full business day and is already under investigation.”

Bernhardt’s predecessor, Ryan Zinke, left his post in January amid several federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest.

“The conflict of interest cloud is still there with Bernhardt,” Raul Grijalva, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in an interview. Grijalva said he wants to question Bernhardt on the allegations and has invited him to testify at a hearing he is planning for next month on “ethical concerns” within the Interior Department.

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ari Natter in Washington at anatter5@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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