FIRST ON FOX: The Home Oversight and Accountability Committee is opening an investigation into the State Division 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 workplace and nongovernmental organizations. In response to paperwork beforehand obtained by Comer’s panel, Kerry’s workers have privately acknowledged a “kitchen cabinet” made up of outstanding 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 Home Oversight Chairman James Comer. (AP Picture/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 Membership, Pure Assets Protection Council and Environmental Protection Fund, reminding them {that a} kitchen cupboard assembly held on the time was off the report.
Extra communications obtained by the committee reveal that the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Sequoia Local weather Fund engaged with the SPEC workplace on local weather finance insurance policies.
And one other internal State Department email involving SPEC workers suggests Mark Gallogly, who has been recognized as a serious Democrat donor and personal fairness investor, was employed by Kerry’s workplace to develop plans for private and non-private local weather financing initiatives.
UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION IS QUIETLY FUELING CLIMATE POLICY, FUNDING STAFF IN DEM STATES
“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 workplace of local weather envoy John Kerry. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg through Getty Photos | Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg through Getty Photos)
The Oversight inquiry Wednesday is a part of the committee’s ongoing efforts to examine the operations of Kerry and the SPEC workplace extra broadly.
Shortly after taking workplace 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 Cupboard and Nationwide Safety Council. The SPEC workplace is housed on the State Division and has an estimated $13.9 million annual funds with approval for 45 personnel.
Nonetheless, whereas Kerry has traveled worldwide, attending high-profile local weather summits and diplomatic engagements in an effort to push a world transition from fossil fuels to inexperienced vitality options, his workplace has remained tight-lipped about its internal operations and workers members, sparking criticism from lawmakers, together with Comer, who’ve demanded higher transparency.
WATCHDOG HITS JOHN KERRY WITH SCIENCE ETHICS COMPLAINT OVER CLIMATE CHANGE DEATHS CLAIM
In his letter to Blinken, Comer additional demanded that the State Division start disclosing the identifications and salaries of SPEC workers. He pointed to a Boston Herald report in January that confirmed FOIA paperwork itemizing SPEC workplace workers positions and salaries, however redacted the names of the people in these positions.
In response to the Boston Herald, Kerry’s workers – in positions akin to “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 among the highest-paid people within the federal authorities.
Kerry is pictured throughout the newest annual U.N. local weather summit in November. Kerry introduced in January that he would quickly step down to help with Biden’s presidential marketing campaign. The White Home named senior local weather adviser John Podesta as Kerry’s substitute final week. (Mahmoud Khaled/COP28 through Getty Photos)
“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.
In the meantime, the inquiry comes sooner or later after vitality watchdog group Energy the Future filed a freedom of data lawsuit in opposition to the State Division, equally demanding the company determine Kerry’s workers.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
“For nearly three years, John Kerry has been jet-setting on the international climate conference circuit while sending taxpayers the bill,” PTF Govt Director Daniel Turner informed Fox Information 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 Division did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
