EXCLUSIVE: Top Biden EPA Nominee May Have ‘Violated’ Key Ethics Pledge, Watchdogs Say
- August 23, 2022
Gabe Kaminsky, Daily Caller
A top Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nominee may have violated a key federal ethics pledge after using his current agency role to grant favors to former university colleagues, watchdogs told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Joseph Goffman, who was tapped by President Joe Biden to lead the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (OAR), replied in 2021 to two former colleagues of his at Harvard University who were asking for favors, according to emails obtained by the watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust that were shared with the DCNF. Because Goffman currently serves as OAR’s acting head, his actions may have violated a federal ethics pledge, which bars political appointees from participating in matters “directly and substantially related” with their former employers for two years, watchdogs say.
In March 2021, Harvard professor Joseph Aldy emailed Goffman asking for him to help his student with research on the EPA’s involvement in artificial intelligence rule making. Goffman, who used to lead Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program, responded and copied two EPA economists on the email thread.