** Watchdog finds documents withheld ahead of Bernhardt's confirmation
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Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt ([link removed]) at his Senate confirmation hearing in March, 2019.

The Interior Department's internal watchdog released a report ([link removed]) on Tuesday finding that political appointees at the department withheld ([link removed]) public documents mentioning Interior Secretary David Bernhardt ahead of his confirmation hearing. The report was released approximately one year after Interior's Office of Inspector General began investigating the department's controversial Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) policy ([link removed]) that gives political appointees the ability to review public information requests prior to their release, and in some cases withhold material altogether.

According to the report, Interior withheld over 250 pages of records ([link removed]) it was required to produce under the terms of a lawsuit. Hubble Relat, an appointee in the Secretary's office, directed attorneys in the Solicitor's Office to "withhold any documents that were sent to or from Bernhardt, or that referenced him in any way, from upcoming FOIA releases related to the litigation,” the report states ([link removed]) .

The report also bolsters lawmakers' claim that Interior Solicitor Daniel Jorjani lied to members of Congress when asked about the FOIA awareness review process for political appointees during his own confirmation hearing, stating ([link removed]) , “I, myself, don’t review FOIAs or make determinations.” He followed this claim with a subsequent written response ([link removed]) to Senator Ron Wyden in which he said ([link removed]) he “typically did not review records prior to their release under the FOIA” and also flatly denied the existence of a separate FOIA review process for top political officials at the department. However, documents released
([link removed]) as part of the investigation into the FOIA review process indicate that not only was Jorjani aware of the “awareness review” ([link removed]) policy at Interior, but often examined FOIA material before it was released himself.


** Border wall construction is draining vital aquifers in Arizona
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A life-sustaining aquifer in the San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge ([link removed]) near Cochise, Arizona is being drained to mix concrete for the construction of President Trump's border wall over the desperate pleas ([link removed]) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel who manage the Refuge. Border wall construction is also damaging the fragile Quitobaquito oasis ([link removed]) near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, a place that holds historical and cultural significance ([link removed]) for both Hia C-ed O’odham and Tohono O’odham tribal members.
Quick hits


** Federal judge rejects rollbacks to Migratory Bird Treaty Act
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** Colorado ecologists look to Yellowstone for lessons on wolf reintroduction
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Vail Daily ([link removed])


** Interior watchdog finds political appointees withheld documents ahead of Bernhardt's confirmation hearing
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Huffington Post ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Associated Press ([link removed]) | Roll Call ([link removed])


** Report: Plans for a clean energy future must include bold vision to save 30% of nature
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Center for American Progress ([link removed])


** Bureau of Land Management cuts controversial parcels near Moab, Utah from September lease sale
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St. George Spectrum & Daily News ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | National Parks Traveler ([link removed])


** Advocates suggest renaming California's Alabama Hills to acknowledge the area's indigenous heritage
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National Geographic ([link removed])


** Border wall construction is draining vital aquifers in Arizona
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High Country News ([link removed]) | Arizona Public Media ([link removed])


** Opinion: Why public lands are still worth fighting for
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Officials at Interior are now on the record admitting what we suspected all along: they orchestrated a coverup to protect Secretary Bernhardt during his confirmation, and all but lied to Congress about it. We call on the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into whether or not Jorjani perjured himself before Congress when he assured the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that there was no 'heightened' FOIA review process.”
—U.S. Senator Ron Wyden ([link removed]) & U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva ([link removed])
Picture this
The 30,000-acre Alabama Hills National Scenic Area in California received its name from a Confederate warship responsible for wreaking havoc on northern shipping during the Civil War. Prospectors sympathetic to the Confederate cause named their mining claims after the C.S.S. Alabama, and eventually the name stuck to these unique hills. Photo: Bob Wick, BLM ([link removed])

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