How Tom Steyer, the White House, and a Scandal-Plagued Operative Paved the Way for EPA Regulations

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Free Beacon:

The White House, statehouses, and nonprofits backed by the billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer worked behind the scenes to create a state-level advocacy network to support controversial new Environmental Protection Agency regulations, newly released emails reveal.

 

Involved in the strategy was a top aide to John Kitzhaber, the former Democratic governor of Oregon, according to emails obtained by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute. Kitzhaber resigned this year in the midst of a scandal involving his fiancée.

 

E&E released its findings in a Monday report that shows extensive behind-the-scenes coordination between White House staff, aides to as many as 12 governors, and officials at multiple arms of Steyer’s network of political and policy groups.

 

“Our report pulls the curtain back on a carefully planned and heavily funded ‘orchestration’ by individuals who have placed their personal interests ahead of the public interest,” said E&E senior legal fellow Chris Horner in a statement accompanying the report.

 

Horner and the E&E team obtained the emails through state and federal Freedom of Information Act and open records requests. According to the report, “some of these requests remain outstanding due to slow-walking and outright stonewalling by offices in California, Kentucky, and Virginia,” meaning the extent of the behind-the-scenes collaboration on this EPA strategy could be greater than the report reveals.