The House Natural Resources Committee announced its first-ever criminal referral to the DOJ

[essentialsaltes]

House committee refers former Trump Interior Secretary David Bernhardt for criminal prosecution

The House Natural Resources Committee announced its first-ever criminal referral to the Department of Justice on Wednesday, asking it to investigate whether Mike Ingram, an Arizona real estate developer and a campaign donor to Donald Trump, bribed public officials during Trump’s tenure as president, including then-Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt.

Since 2019, the House committee has investigated a decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) in October 2017 to reverse its previous opposition to a proposed housing development in Benson, Ariz., called Villages at Vigneto. That decision was reversed again in July 2021, after Joe Biden took office as president.

“Evidence strongly suggests the decision was the result of a quid pro quo between Vigneto’s developer, Michael Ingram, and senior level officials in the Trump administration, potentially including then-DOI Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt,” the committee report concluded.

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[Fantine]

The Trump Administration's methods of doing business were definitely unconventional and I would not be surprised if occasionally they crossed the line into criminality.

Maybe the DOJ should not be run by presidential appointees, but instead by a commission of independents reporting and responsible to the American people, not the administration in power.
We saw how William Barr was often referred to as 'the president's attorney' because his allegiance was to the president right or--as was often the case--wrong.

Nor should a presidential administration use its power to attack political rivals. Any investigations should be evidence-based.

 

[DaisyDay]

It was striking how many lobbyists Donald put in his government.