A former senior official at the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) violated federal ethics rules by improperly holding investments in major oil companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron, according to a report from the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General released Tuesday. It is being

Tommy Beaudreau, who served as deputy director of the DOI under President Joe Biden until he resigned in 2023 in the face of pressure from environmental activists, oversees investments in major oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron. This failure reportedly led to an inadvertent conflict of interest. report state. The report details that Mr. Beaudreau's financial advisor fraudulently purchased ExxonMobil and Chevron stock in June 2022, but Mr. Beaudreau did not realize it until a year later.

Despite having financial interests in these companies, Beaudreau participated in a regulatory meeting on June 14, 2023 that affected both Exxon and Chevron, the report added. The meeting addressed new safety requirements for operating oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico in response to the Deepwater Horizon accident, and Mr. Beaudreau told agency ethics officials that regulations should be met during the meeting. He said he had no intention of proposing any changes.

At the time of purchase, Exxon stock was valued at about $4,920 and Chevron stock was valued at about $4,880, according to the report.

“Beaudreau was prohibited from owning any amount of these investments in the absence of a waiver from DAEO.” [Designated Agency Ethics Official]. Mr. Beaudreau did not authorize his portfolio managers to make these purchases and told us we found no evidence that he did so,” the report states.

The latest report summarizes previous findings. @interior The Deputy Commissioner failed to monitor his own investments or to recuse himself from matters in which he had a financial interest. https://t.co/Ph7xm7QAaf

— DOI OIG (@doioig) October 1, 2024

According to the report, on June 11, 2023, Beaudreau discovered fraudulent stock purchases, including ExxonMobil and Chevron, in his investment account while preparing his annual financial disclosure. He then directed the portfolio manager to cancel these trades and reported the matter to the DAEO on June 13, 2023, which extended the disclosure filing deadline to July 13, 2023.

According to the report, the third-party brokerage firms from which the portfolio manager purchased shares subsequently made 39 purchases on June 15, 2023, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron, which were purchased without authorization for Mr. Beaudreau's joint investment account. He said he sold the stock. These shares, held from June 22, 2022 to June 15, 2023, were treated by the company as a “trading error” and effectively removed from Beaudreau's portfolio as of June 16, 2023.

“We conclude that Mr. Beaudreau either failed to monitor purchases by portfolio managers or declined to dissociate himself from certain matters in which he had a financial interest as required by the Ethics Agreement and the Certification of Compliance with the Ethics Agreement.” the Office of the Inspector General said. “We conclude that Beaudreau violated 18 USC 208 when he participated in a well management regulations meeting on June 14, 2023.” (Related: Blue State accuses oil giants of lying about plastic recycling in new lawsuit)

Boudreau resigned from his position as deputy commissioner in October 2023 in the face of pressure from environmental activists. Beaudreau, who was criticized for supporting Alaska's Willow Project, was harassed five times in one day by members of the environmental group Climate Defiance when he visited New York City for a climate-related event in September. was also targeted.

The Biden administration has approved ConocoPhillips' application to develop three drilling fields in Alaska in 2023. The $8 billion Willow project, initiated by the Interior Department and first proposed in 2018, is expected to produce about 180,000 barrels a day, or about 1.6% of crude oil. Current US oil production.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Inspector General and Mr. Beaudreau did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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