Swamp Monster Alert! Haaland Spins Revolving Door for Conflicted Big Law Corporate Lawyer Beaudreau

Swamp Monster Alert! Haaland Spins Revolving Door for Conflicted Big Law Corporate Lawyer Beaudreau

  • April 14, 2021

Deputy Secretary Nominee Will Be An Ethics Nightmare

Today, the Biden White House announced its intention to nominate Tommy P. Beaudreau as the next Deputy Secretary of the Interior. In the wake of policy and ethics questions surrounding Elizabeth Klein’s failed bid, Secretary Haaland turns to a Big Law Corporate Lawyer who works on a host of issues for special interests before the very agency he would be leading:

“The revolving door never stopped spinning for Tommy Beaudreau. His private sector career boasts a list of potential conflicts of interest that are likely to be the longest in the history of the Department. Combined with his disappointing legacy while Chief of Staff, his nomination does not provide much hope for advocates of clean government,” said Protect the Public’s Trust, a new organization focused on corruption in government.

In his previous stint at the Department of the Interior, Beaudreau failed to create a culture of no-tolerance when it came to sexual harassment, oversaw the Jarvis ethics scandal, and left the ethics office a “morgue” as one previous official described it. He then spent four years at Latham & Watkins, which represents a laundry list of major energy companies with business before the Department today.

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