Interior Secretary Deb Haaland unilaterally dismissed ethics concerns over her decision on an oil and gas moratorium in New Mexico.
In August, Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), a non-profit government watchdog, filed a complaint related to Haaland’s order to choke off hundreds of thousands of acres in New Mexico from energy development.
“In June 2, 2023, Secretary Haaland withdrew public lands from future fuel leases within the Greater Chaco area,” the complaint read. “Somah Haaland, Secretary Haaland’s child, is a prominent member of an activist organization that lobbied federal officials seeking to restrict oil and gas leasing in the area.”
Somah Haaland began working for the Pueblo Action Alliance (PAA) as a media organizer in 2020, a far-left indigenous activist group in New Mexico. The 20-year moratorium on new leases within a 10-mile radius of New Mexico’s Chaco Cultural National Historical Park was a longtime goal of the organization. In 2021, the PAA released a video opposing energy development in the region narrated by Somah featuring her mother, who turned a signature wish list item into reality as secretary of the Interior.
[READ: Who Is Somah Haaland, The Activist Daughter Of Biden’s Interior Secretary?]
Documents obtained by PTT through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal the secretary’s recommendations from the agency’s ethics department. Officials suggested Haaland leverage the agency’s “catch all provision” of federal ethics rules. As long as Haaland examined the conflicting circumstances of her involvement in Chaco drilling decisions, the secretary could determine whether she believed a
