Watchdog questions if top Haaland attorney committed ‘egregious’ violation of federal law
- July 21, 2021
The watchdog sent a letter to the Interior Department’s inspector general.
Nicholas Sherman, Just the News
A government ethics watchdog Tuesday filed a complaint with the Department of the Interior, asking the inspector general to look into whether a high-ranking official committed an “egregious violation of ethics commitments.”
The watchdog, Protect the Public’s Trust alleged that in June 2021, Daniel Cordalis, Deputy Solicitor for Water Resources at the Department of the Interior, which is headed by former New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland, had rescinded a Jan. 2021 memo pertaining to the collection of user fees associated with the Central Valley Project Improvement Act.
They allege that rescinding the memo “appears to have the effect of increasing funding to a Restoration Fund from which the Yurok Tribe in California has been a beneficiary.”