In The News

GAO Told You So

This WaPo piece today is more notable for the context in which the violations come than the violations themselves, and recalls GAO’s previous caution: The inquiry reported immediately above was into something completely different, “contact between the agency’s top air official and Harvard University, his former employer.” GAO noted, on numerous occasions, Mr. Goffman’s approach to applicable legal limitations. These…

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GAO Findings re: “Civil Libertarian’s Nightmare” Reported by Fox

Fox News published an in-depth story on GAO findings—buttressed by the efforts of the Manhattan Contrarian, Francis Menton and elaborated in an Energy Policy Advocates amicus brief in the Southern District of New York.

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GAO Files Suit Against NY OAG Over Withheld ‘Patient Zero’ Climate Litigation Emails

As noted here, New York Office of the Attorney General fired the first shots in a national campaign of lawfare designed to coerce defendants “to the table” in support of unpopular national ‘climate’ (i.e., energy-constraint) policy. As also revealed, in so doing the Office’s attorneys abandoned their own well-founded misgivings, ultimately agreeing to push a pre-packaged “subpoena suggestion” pitched to…

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DC Circuit Accepts Energy Policy Advocates’ Amicus Brief re “Biden’s Back Door Climate Plan”

Readers may recall the March 17, 2021 WSJ editorial nicely summarizing a February 2021 amicus brief filed on behalf of Energy Policy Advocates in State of New York v. EPA. That is the progressive AGs’ effort to orchestrate a sue-and-settle to impose stronger ozone standards as a means of forcing GHG reductions. (It is fair to view that move as the Patient Zero of what has emerged…

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Congress Looking Into Climate Litigation …Industry

Those who follow GAO’s work will recognize the themes set forth in this letter, sent today by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer and Ranking Senate Commerce Committee member Sen. Ted Cruz and first reported here. While addressed to a law firm engaged by numerous progressive elected officials—to which these politicians promised so many millions out of their taxpayers’ supposed…

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Biden Admin FOIA Crackpottery

InsideEPA reports on some For Us, By Us nuttery representing the Left’s “some are more equal than others” view of the public seeking equal rights to access public records under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).   As this email obtained in GAO v. Regents affirms, it is also precisely the brand of crackpottery an insider whispered, around inauguration time,…

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EPA Defies the Supreme Court

Counsel for GAO in numerous open records lawsuits Chris Horner had an opinion piece leading Friday’s Wall Street Journal Opinion page. The scheme revealed is reminiscent of the machinations detailed in this amicus brief, filed by Horner on behalf of Energy Policy Advocates and which revealed early on the Biden EPA’s interest in going around the law to impose the…

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GAO Sues New Jersey AG for Climate Contract

Readers of Climate Litigation Watch are familiar with both the recent machinations in New Jersey, and also the curiousso-called “contingency” relationship between progressive politicians and the plaintiffs’ bar. Emails obtained in GAO v. Regents confirmed that the law firm filing the bulk of these suits is already being paid millions of dollars to file them. These millions first came as “charitable grants” for, oddly, purposes that differed…

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Waiting to Declare the Climate Emergency

From the “Oh, they’d never do that” department we see a couple of emails produced the other night in Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation by Energy Policy Advocates. There’s nothing quite like preparing well in advance to declare a (checks notes) “climate emergency”. Hey, one can never be too prepared!  Even more amusing — in a rather dark, very…

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GAO Files FOIA Suit Against Another Agency That’s Lost the Plot

Government Accountability & Oversight has filed suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for its failure to release records about — recent headlines affirm — yet another federal government agency failing to engage in its core responsibilities or competencies in favor of politicization.

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DC Circuit Strikes Down Bid to Hide Records re Donor-provided ‘Staff’

Court orders House to brief whether the Congress, Speaker, and Oversight Committee are immune from public scrutiny Committee use of donor-provided ‘staff’ to drive “year-long investigation” — apparently (see UPDATE, below) later handed over to plaintiffs’ bar — at issue See here, here, here, here, here and/or here for the fascinating backstory behind this suit, and the weaponization of a congressional “climate”…

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Splitting Up the Loot, II

“Watch the theme of “environmental justice”- it will subsume much policy orientation going forward” GAO readers may have seen this recent item about the New Green Blob that’s eating the Old Blob, and the bitter power struggles along the way, in keeping with Sayre’s Law (though admittedly the number of dollars being redistributed is so high). Now we were reminded of…

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Meet the New Green Blob

Old Westerns remind us what happens when it comes time to split up the loot Recent coverage of “environmental justice” money being thrown around (a billion here and a billion there, pretty soon…) . reminded GAO of some transition-era emails — including from a recent Biden White House promotion (and, speaking of hijacking agendas and authorities) — suggesting that this…

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D.C. Circuit Surprise Filing: Speaker McCarthy “Fully Supports” Pelosi Campaign to Shield Docs Re Use of Donor-Provided Investigative “Staff”

GAO wrote yesterday about the D.C. Circuit ordering new Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy to state his view on whether the House should be free from public scrutiny of (i.e., continue to keep secret) the machinations behind the importation of donor-provided ‘ringer’ staff — off the books and in violation of House rules, incidentally —  to plot and execute the…

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New Controversy Recalls Old Document Revelations

The Washington Times has a rather substantial exclusive up this morning, “Green groups, government officials meet secretly to plot end of gas stoves and appliances”. The piece keys off of the very real issue  of using the state to ban gas stoves, expanding across the country and which recently stumbled onto the national stage with a clumsily half-baked “reveal” in…

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DC Circuit Invites New Speaker to Reverse Pelosi Position on Secrecy re Oversight Abuses

Savvy readers will remember journalist Rob Schilling’s investigation into the weaponization of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. That Committee appeared, under its prior leadership, to be accepting “in kind” contributions from wealthy donors — boasted of by everyone from George Soros’s and Pierre Omidyar’s activist groups to the in-kind “staff” and Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna (in seesaw fashion)…

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Court Awards GAO $225,000 in Legal Fees Over Records Fight

Emails revealed Hollywood and other wealthy donors quietly financing law firm, with charitable foundation serving as pass-through for millions in “charitable grants” Financing raises disclosure, possible ethics and tax questions Late last month, the Superior Court for Los Angeles County awarded Government Accountability & Oversight $225,000 for local counsel James K.T. Hunter’s time spent litigating the California Public Records Act litigation, Government…

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Walk-through of new Climate Industry Revelations

GAO Board member Joe Thomas and former Board member Chris Horner got together to discuss recent developments in the climate litigation industry, covered in the media last week at, e.g., here, here, here and here.

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GAO Climate-Industry Litigation: CA Court Rules in Part, Demands Further Detail and Briefing on UCLA Docs

A trial hearing that had been delayed several times finally took place on January 20, 2022, in Government Accountability & Oversight’s California Public Records Act (PRA) litigation against the Regents of the University of California. The case involves certain records pertaining to UCLA Law School’s donor-enhanced role in staffing and providing spokespersons for the climate litigation industry. Specifically, at issue…

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Democracy Dies in Dark-Moneyness: Soros Funding Behind Off-Books Congressional “Staff” to Investigate Political Opponents of Climate Agenda

Following up on this story, and related complaints filed with congressional ethics watchdog offices, courtesy of Capital Research Center’s intrepid Hayden Ludwig we now see that the money behind privately financed congressional investigative staff is coming from none other than George Soros’s Open Society ventures. Specifically, it appears that $300,000 went from Soros’ c4 (Open Society Policy Institute) to 1630 Fund…

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