A group of democratic congressional leaders has called on Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and President Donald Trump to remove an official from the Department of the Interior (DOI) in violation of the ethics code.
The DOI’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report that found Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech used his position for personal gain and wrongly used government resources. The report was the second finding in a period of six months that concluded the official violated ethics regulations.
On several occasions, Domenech allegedly used his DOI email to correspond with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to advocate for a family member’s employment application. The OIG report also alleged Domenech used his official email and title to contact EPA regarding another family member’s business.
The report said these two separate incidences were in violation of the Code of Federal Regulations, specifically by using public office for private gain, as well as creating the appearance of violating the law or federal ethical standards.
Following the report’s release, a group of lawmakers submitted a letter to Bernhardt June 16, calling for the removal of Domenech from his position. The letter noted a previous report released in December 2019 concluded Domenech improperly arranged meetings between his previous employer and high-ranking DOI officials to discuss a lawsuit between DOI and the former employer.
“You have not held Mr. Domenech accountable in any meaningful way, even after the second OIG report of his violations,” the lawmakers wrote. “According to a statement from DOI, the only consequence for Mr. Domenech’s misconduct has been additional ethics training on top of the repeated sessions that had already clearly warned him not to use his position to endorse friends and family, among other actions.”
Report findings
The most recent OIG report was an investigation into Domenech’s actions to influence the EPA’s decisions regarding his family members.
The report noted Domenech had received proper ethics training in 2017, which included content that specifically stated, “Officials should not misuse their public office for private gain.” The trainings also addressed endorsement, stating the use of one’s position should not be used to endorse friends, relatives, or people not associated with a governmental capacity.
The investigation detailed an event where both Domenech and an EPA senior official were in attendance, and Domenech mentioned his family member’s EPA application because he wanted “full disclosure” as the family member was present with Domenech at the time.
At the same event, Domenech and a different family member discussed the family member’s wedding business with the senior official. Later that night, Domenech sent an email from his DOI account to a National Parks Service employee, and asked for the senior EPA official’s email.
Upon receiving the official’s EPA email, Domenech sent an email about the family member applying for a job and also information to the other family member’s business.
The official then replied to Domenech regarding the family member’s application, and according to the report, said, “Great time. Thanks for this. I checked [on family member 1] yesterday. We could use the help frankly so I’m going to get [on] this.”
One month later, the EPA official sent a follow-up email: “So [family member 1] should be in now or in process, right?”
The officials continued to exchange messages throughout the hiring process, and the family member was eventually hired into the EPA position. The senior EPA official was contacted several times by the OIG for a witness interview, but never responded and has since left the EPA.
The report concluded Domenech used his title to further his family members’ advancement in several ways: by using his government email address to correspond with the EPA official; using his position to gain access to the senior official; and using his position and government resources to obtain the official’s email address.
The lawmakers’ letter read, “No remedy other than removal would adequately deter Mr. Domenech’s conduct in a manner consistent with the higher standards of ethics you promised to enforce at DOI,” and strongly encouraged Domenech be removed from his position.
In other relevant DOI news, a lawsuit against the department for continuing two acting directors’ appointments is still in play. Two groups moved forward with a case after Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Acting Director William Pendley’s and National Park Service Acting Director David Vela’s appointments were extended again.
The groups claim the two acting directors were illegally appointed because they were never confirmed by the Senate, and have never been named or qualified under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The acting directors’ appointments have been continually extended since they were appointed last year.
Regarding the lawsuit, “The leadership of the BLM will not change,” a DOI spokesperson said in a released statement. — Anna Miller, WLJ editor
