(Abdul–Rahman Oladimeji Bello, Headline USA) Protect the Public’s Trust, a government accountability watchdog group, sued the Biden administration Monday for failing to disclose communications with the lobbyist daughter of a Cabinet secretary.
According to a Fox News report, the two lawsuits alleged that the Biden administration violated federal laws by hiding communications involving Somáh Haaland, the 28-year-old daughter of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
PPT filed Freedom of Information requests with the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management on Jan. 2. Following the refusal to comply with these requests, PPT filed lawsuits against both agencies to compel compliance.
The requests reportedly came after Fox News reported that Somáh Haaland—a media organizer for the New Mexico-based environmental activist group Pueblo Action Alliance—lobbied federal lawmakers on hot-button oil- and gas-leasing issues supervised by her mother.
“Her daughter’s activism and lobbying efforts certainly have the potential to create the perception in the minds of the public that Secretary Haaland could be conflicted on issues under her authority,” PPT Director Michael Chamberlain said.
“Further complicating matters is the participation of an organization that claims Somáh Haaland among its leadership in the protest that turned into a riot at the Interior headquarters,” he added.
As is the case with Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, the fact PPT’s complaint outlines a pattern of behavior rather than an isolated incident indicates a systemic culture of nepotism and corruption within the Democrat administration.
“Each of these items alone would point to the need for DOI to provide more transparency into any relationships and interactions between Somáh Haaland and senior Department officials,” Chamberlain said. “Taken together, this need is magnified.”
Fox News also previously reported about Somáh Haaland’s December trip to Washington, D.C., with an activist group to lobby lawmakers. The group asked the lawmakers to block fossil-fuel drilling near the Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico.
The report also added that the group screened a film narrated by Somáh Haaland that “showcases the threats” posed by oil and gas leasing in the region. Sen. Martin Heinrich, and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, attended the screening with some agency officials.
“The Biden Administration promised a return to normalcy but the ties of Interior leaders to activist organizations that sometimes employ controversial tactics represents anything but a return to normalcy,” Chamberlain said.
