May, 30 2019, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Jayson O’Neill, Deputy Director
Western Values Project
jayson@westernvaluesproject.org
(406) 570-5019
Another Lobbyist Nominated by Trump for Key Interior Post
Full Profile of Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Nominee Gregory ‘Robert’ Wallace available at www.departmentofInfluence.org
WASHINGTON
Today, Western Values Project released a full profile on the latest ex-lobbyist to be nominated to a key position at Interior by President Trump. Gregory "Robert" Wallace, a longtime lobbyist for GE Energy, has been nominated to be the Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. According to his biography, the ex-lobbyist "oversaw GE's energy policy work with the US Congress, the White House, the US Department of Energy and Interior, and various other federal and state agencies."
View Gregory "Robert" Wallace's full profile here.
"Just when you thought the Trump administration couldn't possibly fill the swamp with any more lobbyists, they nominate another one whose former employer has business before Interior. Following in ex-mega lobbyist turned-Interior Secretary Bernhardt's footsteps, Wallace would immediately be in a position to influence decisions that could benefit the special interests he used to work for. The Senate should finally slam the door on Trump's revolving-door by rejecting this conflicted nominee," said Chris Saeger, Executive Director of the Western Values Project.
Wallace has financial interests in several major energy corporations, including ExxonMobil, Phillips 66 and Chevron, according to his financial disclosure form. He is also the beneficiary of oil and gas royalty payments from energy corporations operating in Wyoming and Colorado. Wallace is currently a partner at i2 Capital, which is a venture capital and private equity firm specializing in growth capital investments in social impact companies and private placements of debt and equity according to the companies profile on Bloomberg.
Having lobbied for GE Energy for over 13 years, Wallace is no stranger to the inner workings of Washington, D.C. politics. He has donated some $8,550 to Republican candidates and Republican-affiliated Political Action Committees, including $1,800 to Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The Assistant Interior Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks post has been vacant since 2011. Wallace is scheduled to have his nomination hearing in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on June 5, 2019.
Department of Influence website, which was launched in 2017 by Western Values Project, documents the revolving-door between industry and political appointees at the Interior Department under the Trump administration.
Western Values Project brings accountability to the national conversation about Western public lands and national parks conservation - a space too often dominated by industry lobbyists and their allies in government.
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