WH Chief Of Staff’s Family Scored Huge Mining Deal Thanks To Biden Green Initiative
- September 13, 2023
Nick Pope, Daily Caller
Companies linked to White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients’ family members scored a major African mining deal thanks to a Biden administration initiative aimed toward promoting “clean energy,” The Intercept reported Wednesday.
The Biden administration brokered a March 2023 deal between TechMet, a company that develops supply chains for green technologies, and Lifezone Metals to source nickel from Tanzania. Zients’ brother-in-law Brian Menell is the CEO of TechMet, and a trust fund for Zients’ adult children owned more than 400,000 shares of Lifezone before the company’s July public listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), according to The Intercept.
“This sort of conflict is inevitable when the government assumes the role of venture capitalist,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, told the DCNF. “And, while it’s good that Zients recused himself, this is another example of the Biden administration bringing in highly conflicted individuals to important positions,” he continued, adding that “this either forces them to recuse from important matters or pressures career ethics officials to award waivers so these officials can do their jobs.”