Investigation of Alleged Ethics Violation by Senior DOI Employee

We investigated allegations that a senior political employee of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) violated a Federal ethics pledge by meeting with a former employer during the required 2-year recusal period following the senior employee’s resignation from that organization. We also investigated whether this senior employee’s attendance at events hosted by the organization violated the section of the standards of ethical conduct for executive branch employees that governs the receipt of gifts from outside sources. We found that the senior employee attended two events hosted by the organization, and we determined that this was permissible under Federal gift rules for executive branch employees. In addition, we obtained no evidence that official DOI matters were discussed with the senior employee at either of the events; therefore, the senior employee’s actions on these occasions did not implicate Federal ethics rules or the ethics pledge. We provided a report on our investigation to the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary for any action deemed appropriate.