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FIRST ON FOX: The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is opening an investigation into the State Department over climate czar John Kerry’s obvious frequent consultations with environmental activists.
Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., despatched a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, demanding his company share extra paperwork and data associated to interactions between Kerry’s office and nongovernmental organizations. According to paperwork beforehand obtained by Comer’s panel, Kerry’s workers have privately acknowledged a “kitchen cabinet” made up of distinguished left-wing eco teams.
“Meetings with leftist environmental organizations, sometimes collectively addressed as the ‘Kitchen Cabinet,’ go far beyond normal briefings and raise questions regarding possible conflicts of interests involving SPEC staff’s ties to these groups regarding climate finance investments,” Comer wrote. “The State Department claims the ‘Kitchen Cabinet is an existing group of NGOs that sometimes asks SPEC to brief them… nothing unusual or below board.'”
“Documents received by the Committee illustrate that the coordination and briefings are anything but ordinary – a two-way street exists for the purposes of obtaining ‘off the record’ information, receiving climate finance consultation, and influencing U.S. foreign policy positions,” the Oversight chairman continued.
BIDEN ADMIN SUED FOR HIDING JOHN KERRY’S STAFF, COORDINATION WITH ECO GROUPS
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was requested for paperwork associated to John Kerry’s operations by House Oversight Chairman James Comer. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Comer’s letter pointed to an e mail despatched in November 2022 the place a staffer in Kerry’s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) reached out to a number of environmental teams, together with the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and Environmental Defense Fund, reminding them {that a} kitchen cupboard assembly held on the time was off the document.
Additional communications obtained by the committee reveal that the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Sequoia Climate Fund engaged with the SPEC office on climate finance insurance policies.
And one other inner State Department e mail involving SPEC workers suggests Mark Gallogly, who has been recognized as a serious Democrat donor and personal fairness investor, was employed by Kerry’s office to develop plans for private and non-private climate financing initiatives.
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“The Committee has learned these groups will go as far to hire independent consultants to provide funding opportunities designated for placement of U.S. taxpayer dollars – all while receiving preferential treatment from Envoy Kerry, the SPEC Office, and the State Department who distribute taxpayer dollars to fund their projects,” Comer wrote.
“SPEC staff – past or present – who consult outside groups regarding climate finance matters require heightened accountability for their ties to these groups,” he continued. “The Committee is troubled by the frequency and content of financial-related information discussed at ‘off the record’ meetings between the State Department, SPEC office, and outside groups considering that the Biden Administration has proposed $1 trillion in climate investments over the next 10 years.”
Comer has repeatedly probed the actions of the office of climate envoy John Kerry. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images | Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)
The Oversight inquiry Wednesday is a part of the committee’s ongoing efforts to look at the operations of Kerry and the SPEC office extra broadly.
Shortly after taking office in 2021, President Biden appointed Kerry to be the U.S. SPEC, a place that hadn’t beforehand existed, did not require Senate approval and gave him a spot on the president’s Cabinet and National Security Council. The SPEC office is housed on the State Department and has an estimated $13.9 million annual price range with approval for 45 personnel.
However, whereas Kerry has traveled worldwide, attending high-profile climate summits and diplomatic engagements in an effort to push a world transition from fossil fuels to inexperienced power alternate options, his office has remained tight-lipped about its inner operations and workers members, sparking criticism from lawmakers, together with Comer, who’ve demanded better transparency.
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In his letter to Blinken, Comer additional demanded that the State Department start disclosing the identifications and salaries of SPEC workers. He pointed to a Boston Herald report in January that confirmed FOIA paperwork itemizing SPEC office workers positions and salaries, however redacted the names of the people in these positions.
According to the Boston Herald, Kerry’s workers – in positions reminiscent of “policy analysts” to “senior advisers” – are collectively paid $4.3 million per 12 months. Some unnamed officers are paid as a lot as $186,680 per 12 months, making them a number of the highest-paid people within the federal authorities.
Kerry is pictured throughout the latest annual U.N. climate summit in November. Kerry introduced in January that he would quickly step down to help with Biden’s presidential marketing campaign. The White House named senior climate adviser John Podesta as Kerry’s substitute final week. (Mahmoud Khaled/COP28 by way of Getty Images)
“The American people deserve to know what is being promised by Secretary Kerry and SPEC staff in off-the-record meetings with leftist environmental groups and whether SPEC staff are undermining U.S. foreign policy, energy policy, and national security policy and discuss climate investments,” Comer wrote.
“SPEC staff’s ties to these groups, in addition to potential foreign government officials and business interests, require transparency and accountability,” he added.
Meanwhile, the inquiry comes at some point after power watchdog group Power the Future filed a freedom of data lawsuit towards the State Department, equally demanding the company determine Kerry’s workers.
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“For nearly three years, John Kerry has been jet-setting on the international climate conference circuit while sending taxpayers the bill,” PTF Executive Director Daniel Turner instructed Fox News Digital. “Today, we begin the process of teaching John Kerry and Joe Biden that they work for the taxpayers. No one should have to waste resources on litigation, but that is our only option since John Kerry thinks he can keep his office off the books.”
The State Department did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
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