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02/22/2013

Cause of Action Statement on Chairman Hastings’ Committee Report

Cause of Action applauds Natural Resources Committee for their call to appoint permanent Inspector General at the DOI

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action, a government accountability and watchdog group applauds the House Committee on Natural Resources for their call to appoint a permanent Inspector General at the Department of Interior. CoA agrees that the acting Inspector General has “not been aggressive in blowing the whistle on misdeeds by the current Administration.”

Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein called into question accountability at the DOI:

“On November 29, 2012 Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar denied the renewal of a Special Use Permit to Drakes Bay Oyster Company, a family-run, sustainable oyster farm located in Point Reyes National Park.  In the process of making this decision, Cause of Action has found that the Secretary failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act, and the Data Quality Act among others.  In failing to investigate these violations, we have found acting Inspector General Mary Kendall to be negligent in her duties as Acting Inspector General.  Senator David Vitter even wrote a letter to the acting IG herself, expressing concerns that the OIG may have gone out of its way to protect Interior employees she was supposed to be independently investigating.

While it is evident the DOI significantly lacks oversight, accountability and transparency, acting IG Kendall has allowed actions at the department to go unchecked. Perhaps it would be best to look elsewhere for a more credible, reliable, and ethical permanent IG.”

For more information on Drakes Bay Oyster Company and their lawsuit against Secretary Salazar, the National Parks Service, and the Department of the Interior, click here.

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02/6/2013

Drakes Bay Oyster Company Appeals Judge’s Decision to Deny Injunction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                      

FEBRUARY 6, 2013

DRAKES BAY OYSTER COMPANY APPEALS JUDGE’S DECISION TO DENY INJUNCTION

The Lunny Family Continues the Fight to Keep the Farm in Business

 

SAN FRANCISCO – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP, and SSL Law today appealed Judge Gonzalez Rogers’s decision to deny an injunction for Drakes Bay Oyster Company, which would have allowed the company to remain open for the duration of the trial, Drakes Bay Oyster Company v. Salazar, et al.  Without an injunction, the family farm will be required to cease all operations, destroy millions of un-harvested oysters, and force several families living on the farm to move elsewhere by February 28.

“We are committed to fighting against government abuse and overreach to keep the Lunny family in business,” said Amber Abbasi, Chief Counsel for Regulatory Affairs at Cause of Action, “and are taking all the necessary legal steps to appeal this ruling.”

Kevin Lunny, owner of Drakes Bay Oyster Company offered this brief statement on behalf of the farm:

“We continue to be grateful for the outpouring of support from our community.  We have had time to weigh our options carefully, and have decided to appeal the judge’s decision.”

Cause of Action and Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP, and SSL Law represent Drakes Bay Oyster Company.

 

The judge’s decision can be found here.

 Our Appeal and Exhibits can be found here.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how government accountability and transparency protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

 

 

 

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02/5/2013

Press Release: Cause of Action Exposes Negligence and New Hatch Act Concerns at Office of Special Counsel

 

Cause of Action Exposes Negligence and New Hatch Act Concerns at Office of Special Counsel

Board Designated with Investigating Hatch Act Violations is Rife with Problems

 WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, sent a letter to Chairman Darrell Issa of the House Oversight Committee on Monday outlining new discoveries about Hatch Act violations and internal problems at the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) that warrant investigation.

The letter follows an OSC complaint filed on January 29, 2012 by Cause of Action requesting an investigation into AJ Pearlman, an aide to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who committed a Hatch Act violation while accompanying the Secretary during a February 2012 trip. Cause of Action filed the complaint in concert with a complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) concerning the Democratic National Committee’s reimbursement to the government for Secretary Sebelius’s political activity.

What Cause of Action is now revealing is a breakdown of accountability at the OSC on multiple levels:

  • OSC’s Investigation into HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Failed to Disclose a Potential Hatch Act Violation by Sebelius’s Aide AJ Pearlman
  • OSC Did Not Consider that Secretary Sebelius and Her Staff’s Support of Senator Sherrod Brown may Raise Hatch Act Concerns
  • OSC Failed to Investigate Potential Hatch Act Violations Arising from an Event at The White House Sponsored by the Democratic National Committee (DNC)
  • OSC Has Launched a Hatch Act Investigation into Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, but Will they Conclude that Investigation Before He Leaves Office in March 2013?
  • OSC Lacks Clear Guidelines for Appropriate Disciplinary Action against Federal Employees that Violate the Hatch Act
  • OSC’s Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner Used a Non-government E-mail Account to Conduct Agency Business

Executive Director of Cause of Action Dan Epstein explained the consequences of Cause of Action’s findings:

“The Office of Special Counsel exists, in part, to hold federal government employees to the standards of the law, yet we have found a breakdown of responsibility, ethics, and duty within their own agency.  As the primary Congressional body with jurisdiction over OSC, we are presenting our findings to the House Oversight Committee for their review.  Taxpayer dollars are funding an agency who is failing to execute its duties, and we intend to hold them accountable. The ripple effects of their failures mean that numerous agency employees are potentially getting away with breaking the law.”

The letter and the exhibits can be found here.

 

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Communications Director Mary Beth Hutchins, contact Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.

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02/4/2013

Statement from Drakes Bay Oyster Company in Response to Denial of Preliminary Injunction

Drakes Bay Oyster Company and Legal Team Respond to Federal Court Decision to Deny Request for Preliminary Injunction

 

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (COA), a government accountability group working on behalf of Drakes Bay Oyster Company (DBOC) and owner Kevin Lunny, responded to Judge Gonzalez Rogers’s decision to deny an injunction for Drakes Bay Oyster Company, which would have allowed the company to remain open for the duration of the trial, Drakes Bay Oyster Company v. Salazar, et al. Following a November 2012 decision by Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar which will shut down the oyster farm on February 28, DBOC filed a lawsuit against Salazar, the National Park Service, and the Department of the Interior for violating the law and not adhering to sound science.

 

Amber Abbasi, Cause of Action’s Chief Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, offered this response on behalf of the legal team representing DBOC, which includes pro-bono attorney services from Stoel Rives, LLP; SSL Law Firm, LLP; and Briscoe Ivester & Bazel, LLP:

 

“We are disappointed in the judge’s decision to deny our request for a preliminary injunction. Without this injunction, not only will a small business close, but families will be forced out of their homes, and the community will lose a sustainable farming resource.  The Lunnys are weighing their options for next steps and will make their decision known in the coming days.”

The judge’s decision can be found here.

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how government accountability and transparency protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

 

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02/1/2013

COA Challenges DOE’s Proposed Settlement in Energy Efficiency Standards Case

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                 CONTACT:        Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

Jamie Morris, 202-499-2425

Cause of Action Challenges DOE’s Proposed Settlement in Energy Efficiency Standards Case

HARDI moves to substitute in the case that would affect numerous American businesses

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, recently  filed a Motion to Substitute as Petitioner on behalf of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), following the Department of Energy’s proposed settlement with the American Public Gas Association (APGA)  of a court challenge to the agency’s rogue move to impose unreasonable energy efficiency standards on distributors, installers, and users of residential heating and cooling products in the United States.

On May 29, 2012, CoA filed a brief on behalf of HARDI in a lawsuit against the DOE following the agency’s unprecedented move to issue new energy efficiency standards without heeding input from industry members and others in the public. Agency practice typically dictates that even if one adverse public comment is received, the agency will withdraw a proposed direct final rule and use the notice-and-comment process. The DOE ignored more than 30 adverse comments concerning the direct final rule at issue here.

“The proposed settlement between the APGA and the DOE leaves two-thirds of the energy-conservation standards at issue in the lawsuit intact,” said Dan Epstein, executive director of Cause of Action. “If HARDI is not granted permission to substitute as a Petitioner in this case HARDI and other small business members will be denied the opportunity to fight DOE’s abuse of its limited direct final rulemaking authority.”

“HARDI does not believe that the APGA/DOE settlement addresses all of our concerns, therefore we are asking the Court to allow us to substitute in for APGA and continue our concerns as they relate to abuses of the Direct Final Rule Process and central air conditioners,” Jon Melchi, Director of Government Affairs at HARDI, said in a press release from the organization.

The proposed settlement is limited to standards for non-weatherized gas furnaces and fails to address or resolve HARDI’s remaining claims.

Continued Epstein, “Only judicial review can effectively curb DOE’s abuse of the direct final rulemaking process.”

About HARDI:

Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) represents more than 460 wholesale companies and 300 manufacturing associates as well as nearly 125 manufacturer representatives. HARDI members represent an estimated 85 percent of the dollar value of the HVACR products sold through distribution.

 

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action a nonprofit, nonpartisan government accountability organization that investigates, exposes, and fights job-killing federal government regulations, waste, fraud, and cronyism.  Cause of Action, uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how transparency and accountability protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

 

For more information or to speak with Dan Epstein, Executive Director of Cause of Action, contactMary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth@causeofaction.org or Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org, 202-499-4232

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02/1/2013

COA Responds to Energy Sec. Chu’s Resignation

Cause of Action, a government accountability group currently engaged in two lawsuits against the Department of Energy, issued the following response to Secretary Chu’s resignation announcement today:

Executive Director Dan Epstein:

“Secretary Chu is leaving behind a Department of Energy that has violated the rulemaking process, stolen technology from small businesses and given it to government-backed corporations, and shown political favoritism in awarding loans and loan guarantees. Instead of a reputation of accountability and transparency, Secretary Chu’s reputation has been tarnished by the corruption and cronyism of this Administration.”

For more information on Cause of Action’s work related to the Department of Energy, click here

For further comment, please feel free to contact  202-400-2721.

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01/30/2013

Cause of Action Files FEC Complaint against DNC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                 CONTACT:      

JANUARY 30, 2013                                                                                Mary Beth Hutchins, 202-400-2721

Jamie Morris, 202-499-2425

 

Cause of Action Files FEC Complaint Against Democratic National Committee For Failing to Properly Disclose its Reimbursements for Kathleen Sebelius’ Improper Political Activity

 

Request also made to Office of Special Counsel to investigate Hatch Act violation by Sebelius aide

 

 

WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (CoA), a government accountability organization, filed a complaint before the Federal Election Commission (FEC) today against the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and specifically against Andrew Tobias both individually and in his capacity as Treasurer of the DNC for violating the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) and FEC regulations when reimbursing the Department of Health and Human Services for Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ 2012 Hatch Act violation.

In September, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) found Sebelius guilty of violating the Hatch Act, but claimed that the DNC’s reimbursement meant that the “issue has been resolved.”  Cause of Action has found that the DNC failed to properly disclose its reimbursements as independent expenditures, therefore violating FECA.

“While the President gave Secretary Sebelius a pass on the most high-profile Hatch Act violation in history, what has come to light in our investigation is that the reimbursement for her campaigning wasn’t properly filed by the DNC,” explained Cause of Action’s Executive Director, Dan Epstein. “While HHS sought reimbursement from the DNC prior to the OSC’s Hatch Act investigation being complete, the DNC attempted to classify these payments as operating expenditures, and failed to report them accurately on multiple months’ reports. The FEC has an obligation to investigate and take appropriate measures to enforce their own rules as well as FECA.”

Moreover, Cause of Action’s investigation raises the question as to whether Sebelius’ use of her official capacity to support President Obama’s re-election was paid for by a loan from the United States, later reimbursed by the DNC, but nevertheless in potential violation of 18 U.S.C. § 595.

Cause of Action is also filing a complaint with OSC requesting an investigation into Sebelius’s aide AJ Pearlman, for whom the DNC also reimbursed expenses to HHS, yet no investigation into Pearlman’s potential violation of the law was conducted.

According to internal documents procured by Cause of Action through Freedom of Information Act requests, the following facts came to light about the February 25, 2012 event at which Secretary Sebelius campaigned for President Obama and Walter Dalton’s candidacy for Governor of North Carolina:

  • March 2012 – DNC fails to report to the FEC any contribution, debt, or other obligation from HHS for relevant reporting period.

 

  • Apr. 12, 2012 – DNC issues check to HHS for $1,003.69 and reported the expense under the category of “Other Federal Operating Expenditure” in their FEC report.

 

  • Jul. 9, 2012 – OSC interviews Sebelius about HRC gala for investigation.

 

  • Jul. 18, 2012 – OSC advises HHS that there were additional costs associated with Sebelius’ attendance at the gala and needed to be reimbursed to the Treasury.

 

  • Jul. 23, 2012 – HHS requests reimbursement from DNC for additional $1,500 travel costs for Sec. Sebelius’s aide.

 

  • Aug. 2, 2012 – DNC again reports payment expense under category of “Other Federal Operating Expenditure.”

The FEC complaint can be found here and the OSC complaint can be found here.

 

About Cause of Action:

Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how government accountability and transparency protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.

 

To schedule an interview with Cause of Action’s Executive Director Dan Epstein, contact Mary Beth Hutchins,  202-400-2721 or Jamie Morris, jamie.morris@causeofaction.org.

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