Biden’s Interior Secretary hit with ethics complaint over possible ‘conflicts of interest’ related to oil leasing ban
- August 18, 2023
Candace Hathaway, The Blaze
Government watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust filed an official ethics complaint against the Biden administration’s Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, questioning her “impartiality” regarding the decision to implement an oil leasing ban in New Mexico.
In June, Haaland placed a 20-year ban on oil, gas, and mineral leasing within 10 miles of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. The stretch of land includes 53 allotments that bring in roughly $6.2 million annually for 5,000 Navajo Nation citizens.
PPT director Michael Chamberlain told Fox News Digital that the watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Haaland because “she is anything but impartial.”
“Secretary Haaland apparently feels no compunction about participating in matters involving oil and gas leasing in Chaco Canyon despite past statements as well as her family’s — and her own — advocacy on the issue that reveals she is anything but impartial,” Chamberlain said.
The complaint, sent to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of the Interior, explained that Haaland possibly has several “conflicts of interest” regarding the decision to prevent the land leases.