Protect the Public’s Trust sues DOT alleging lack of Buttigieg waiver transparency
- April 6, 2022
Juliette Fairley, Legal Newsline
WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary received a waiver for previous work in Indiana where he was mayor of South Bend and employed by a radio station, however the scope of that waiver has allegedly not been revealed, according to a watchdog group.
Secretary Pete Buttigieg listed iHeart media as a former employer and terminated that employment relationship in December 2020, according to a Jan. 14, 2021 document signed by Buttigieg.
“He would have been barred from participating in particular matters that involved iHeart media for a year until December 2021 when he was no longer subject to those restrictions but he did have an impartiality decision during that time,” said Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust. “During the entire time that he was granted an exception to the federal ethics law, there’s no way to know what the scope of it was and what matters he may or may not have been able to be participate in that involved his former employer.”