Doug Domenech, a top official at the Department of the Interior, worked as a political appointee at the agency during the George W. Bush administration when it was rife with corruption. The official is now coming under scrutiny for his own questionable actions as a Trump administration appointee.<\/p>\n
A month after winning\u00a0confirmation\u00a0to serve as assistant secretary for insular affairs at the Interior Department in September 2017, Domenech purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of shares in Compass Minerals, a mining company that does business with the department, Politico reported Monday. In 2017, the Interior Department, for example, paid the company $15,000 on a contract.<\/p>\n
As assistant secretary for insular areas, Domenech coordinates federal policy for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The office also is responsible for administering and overseeing grant assistance to the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau.<\/p>\n
Compass Minerals produces salt, potash, and fertilizers. Along with the Interior Department, the company\u00a0has\u00a0won\u00a0contracts with the departments of Defense, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs over the past seven years. Domenech was confirmed to his position at the Interior Department on September 18 and reportedly purchased the shares in Compass Minerals in late October.<\/p>\n
Last fall, Domenech also sold more than $15,000 in shares of Chevron. However, he still owns shares in pipeline company Enbridge Inc. and smaller stakes in pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners and refiner Valero Energy, according to Politico.<\/p>\n
Domenech\u2019s investments raise questions about conflict of interest and whether the Interior Department will steer contracts to these companies or implement policies that could boost the companies\u2019 share value. Last week, Trump\u2019s head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0resigned\u00a0on the heels\u00a0of a Politico\u00a0report\u00a0that she had purchased stock in a tobacco company soon after taking her job, which oversees smoking-cessation programs.<\/p>\n
The Interior Department had not responded to a request for comment from ThinkProgress at the time this article was published. Politico reported that Compass Minerals does not do business in the Virgin Islands or other territories that Domenech directly oversees.<\/p>\n
Domenech\u2019s bosses have faced serious corruption charges at each step of his career in government. Most recently, Domenech served as secretary of natural resources in Virginia under Gov. Bob McDonnell (R), where\u00a0the governor was a\u00a0vocal supporter\u00a0of drilling off the Virginia coastline. McDonnell was convicted of public corruption charges in 2014 for receiving gifts from a political donor and was\u00a0sentenced to two years in prison. But the former governor never served any time after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the sentence.<\/p>\n
During the Bush administration,\u00a0Domenech served as White House liaison and deputy chief of staff to Interior secretaries Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne. An Interior Department inspector general report\u00a0found\u00a0that employees at the agency had received improper gifts from energy industry officials under Norton\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n
Steven Griles, Norton\u2019s top lieutenant at Interior, resigned after an investigation by the department\u2019s Office of Inspector General concluded he had met with former clients in the\u00a0fossil fuel\u00a0industry in violation of an agreement he signed upon getting confirmed to deputy Interior secretary. After leaving Interior, Griles was sentenced to 10 months in prison for his role in the Jack Abramoff\u00a0scandal.<\/p>\n
In 2009, the Justice Department\u00a0opened a criminal investigation\u00a0into whether Norton illegally used her position to steer lucrative oil leases to Royal Dutch Shell PLC, the company she worked for after leaving the Interior Department. The investigators sought to determine whether Norton violated a law that bars federal employees from discussing employment with a company if the employee is involved in decisions that could benefit that company. The Justice Department ultimately declined to press charges.<\/p>\n
As with Norton, Domenech\u2019s top boss in the Trump administration, Ryan Zinke, is under\u00a0investigation\u00a0for his potential misuse of agency funds and other questionable actions. Zinke also is facing criticism for his ownership of shares in a firearms company,\u00a0a financial interest he did not disclose when nominated last year, Itai Vardi\u00a0reported\u00a0for HuffPost.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0private Montana company, PROOF Research Inc., manufactures and sells firearms and advanced weapons materials.\u00a0This previously undisclosed holding came to light after numerous decisions in his first year in office that benefited the hunting and gun industries. This included an alleged effort to\u00a0silence\u00a0National Park Service Acting Director Michael Reynolds\u2019 objections to several provisions in National Rifle Association-backed legislation that would loosen regulations on hunting within park boundaries.<\/p>\n
After leaving the Bush administration, Domenech lobbied for oil and energy companies. Prior to being named to the Trump administration, he\u00a0was the chair\u00a0of the\u00a0Koch-funded Texas Public Policy Foundation\u2019s (TPPF) Fueling Freedom Project.\u00a0The project\u2019s goals include explaining \u201cthe forgotten moral case for fossil fuels\u201d and ending the EPA\u2019s regulation of carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n
The TPPF also employs Kathleen Hartnett-White, who\u00a0failed to win\u00a0Senate approval to serve as head of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) due to her radical beliefs on fossil fuels and climate science. On Monday, the White House officially\u00a0withdrew\u00a0her nomination to lead the CEQ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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