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The Interior Department's internal watchdog released a report on Tuesday finding that political appointees at the department withheld 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 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 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.
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, “I, myself, don’t review FOIAs or make determinations.” He followed this claim with a subsequent written response to Senator Ron Wyden in which he said 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 as part of the investigation into the FOIA review process indicate that not only was Jorjani aware of the “awareness review” policy at Interior, but often examined FOIA material before it was released himself.
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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.”
