Saturday, March 4, 2023

Leaked memo admission stuns Manchin: ‘If this is what this administration truly believes … it is unacceptable’ March 4, 2023 | Melissa Fine |

 

Leaked memo admission stuns Manchin: ‘If this is what this administration truly believes … it is unacceptable’

March 4, 2023 |  |  Print Article

An internal climate agenda memo from the Biden administration was accidentally leaked on Friday, and its explosive contents have “appalled” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).

In the memo, obtained by Fox News Digital (FND), Biden’s administration acknowledged that Americans would enjoy “greater energy security” if fossil fuel companies were charged less to drill, but because of the “serious challenges” our country is facing from “climate change,” they decided to hike the royalty fees for an oil and gas lease sale that encompassed 958,202 acres in the Cook Inlet off Alaska’s coast anyway.

“If a Cook Inlet prospect would be developed, there would be additional government revenues and greater energy security for the State of Alaska, especially if development of natural gas resources in the Cook Inlet ameliorated the long-term supply challenges facing the Anchorage area,” Former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton wrote late last year in the memo.

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“Nevertheless,” she continued, “because of the serious challenges facing the Nation from climate change and the impact of [greenhouse gasses] from fossil fuels, BOEM is not recommending this option since it would not include an appropriate surcharge to account for those impacts.”

Rather than charge drillers with a royalty fee of 16.67%, which Lefton said would result in more bids and “be more likely to facilitate expeditious and orderly development of [offshore] resources,” she recommended the Department of the Interior (DOI) raise the royalty fee to a whopping 18.75%.

DOI Assistant Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis signed off on Lefton’s recommendation. In her record of decision — published in November after she’d given it the green light — Daniel-Davis explained that she went with the 18.75% fee “because this rate constitutes the most reasonable balancing of environmental and economic factors for the American public.”

She neglected to mention that the lower fee would have provided “the American public” with greater energy security.

Lease Sale 258 was held by BOEM on Dec. 30.

Just one bid worth $62,983 was submitted at the auction for a single tract covering 2,304 acres, according to federal records.

According to Fox News:

In May, the White House canceled Lease Sale 258, which had been proposed under the Trump administration, in an unexpected decision that was promptly criticized by the fossil fuel industry and Republican lawmakers. However, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) mandated that the administration reverse the decision and hold the sale by the end of 2022.

 

Sen. Manchin helped to write the disastrous Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but, with the release of the memo, he is now calling the Biden administration’s implementation of it “radical.”

“The Department of the Interior mistakenly posted an internal memo making recommendations to Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, Laura Daniel Davis, on the Cook Inlet Oil and Gas Lease Sale 258 mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act,” the controversial senator said in a statement on Friday.

“I am appalled by its contents,” he continued, “which make crystal clear that this administration is literally putting their radical climate agenda ahead of the needs of the people of Alaska and the United States.”

He accused the Biden administration of ignoring Congress’ intent and cozying up to environmental groups “at the expense of shoring up American energy security and keeping Americans safe.”

“The contents of this memo speak volumes – if this is what this Administration truly believes and is how they are going to make decisions, it is unacceptable,” Manchin said.

“It’s a clear and intentional threat to energy security and the all-of-the above energy policy Congress has consistently reinforced,” he stated. “I will not support anyone who agrees with this type of misguided reasoning.”

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America First Legal pounces on ‘walking talking FARA violation’ Hunter Biden as new emails surface March 4, 2023 | Vivek Saxena

 

America First Legal pounces on ‘walking talking FARA violation’ Hunter Biden as new emails surface

March 4, 2023 |  |  Print Article

Stephen Miller’s America First Legal filed a complaint with the Justice Department on Friday accusing President Joe Biden’s son Hunter of having violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by failing to register as a foreign agent.

The complaint is based on Obama administration emails showing that, following Hunter’s appointment to the Ukrainian energy firm Burisma’s board in 2014, he advised his father’s office on what to say to the press about the appointment.

“Burisma is a ‘foreign principal’ under FARA. Hunter Biden is Burisma’s agent and subject to FARA registration because he was an officer of Burisma and represented Burisma’s interests to the Office of the Vice President in addition to advising on a public relations matter. As an officer, Hunter Biden acted ‘at the order, request, or under the direction or control, of a foreign principal,'” the complaint reads.

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“In advising the Office of the Vice President how to respond to press inquiries about his appointment, Hunter Biden ‘represent[ed] the interests of [a] foreign principal before any agency or official of the Government of the United States,’” it continues.

The lofty charge is buttressed by a string of emails showing Hunter Biden advising his father’s then-press secretary, Kendra Barkoff, on how to deal with press inquiries about his appointment to Burisma’s board of directors.In one email dated May 13th, 2014, he advised Barkoff to refer the media to Burisma’s office.

“For the time being I’d just refer them to my office. FYI I joined the board of Burisma Holdings Ltd. (Burisma.com) an independent/private natural gas producer in Ukraine along with the former president of Poland. I think the press release is on their web site,” he wrote.

In another email sent about 30 minutes later, he provided more information.

“Burisma is completely independent of Ukrainian government with an independent board of directors. NZ served as Minister of Ecology and resigned in 2010. I joined the board as legal adviser and Burisma also engaged he law firm I am of counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner on matters pertaining to corporate governance, transparency and expansion. Alana Apter former head of Morgan Stanley Europe is chairman of the board,” this email reads.

In a third email, this one sent by Barkoff on June 26th of 2014, she directly emailed him the statement that the Office of the Vice President was doling out to the media.

“Been giving out this statement: ‘Hunter Biden is a private citizen and a lawyer. The Vice President does not endorse any particular company and has no involvement with this company. For any additional questions, I refer you to Hunter’s office,” the email reads.

(Source: America First Legal)

Separate emails obtained by America First Legal show that officials within the Obama administration and even the National Security Council had raised concerns about Hunter’s appointment to Burisma’s board, alleging that it may constitute a conflict of interest.

“Russian state media is loving this press release, supposedly from a Cypriot-held Ukrainian natural gas company, claiming that the Vice President’s son has joined its board of directors,” one email written on May 13th of 2014 reads.

“The news seems rather odd on its face and, if true, would present a fairly glaring conflict of interest given the VP’s role on Ukraine policy — particularly since the company is controlled by Nikolai Zlochevsky, who was energy minister and deputy NSC chief under Yanukovych,” it continues.

As previously reported, America First Legal is a law firm launched by Miller following the end of the Trump administration.

In a statement to the New York Post, Miller compared the severe sentence that former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort had received for violating FARA with the lack of prosecution that Hunter has and continues to face.

“Leftist prosecutors gave Paul Manafort the functional equivalent of a life sentence for providing real counsel to the Ukrainian government based on decades of experience as a top political adviser. Hunter Biden was acting as a foreign agent, peddling his family name, with no legitimate experience whatsoever, and yet DOJ apparently couldn’t care less,” he said.

“Corruption piled on top of corruption. The documents we obtained from the National Archives make clear that Hunter violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act and therefore must be held fully accountable under the law. America First Legal has filed a formal FARA complaint with DOJ to initiate that process. It is also essential that DOJ investigate Joe Biden’s collusive scheme with his son and the pay-for-play scandals that have enriched the Biden family,” he added.

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