The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is giving top officials permission to moonlight for private companies in their off-time, a practice that could conflict with their official duties at the federal agency.
Two of the most prominent EPA officials currently under scrutiny are John Konkus, who serves as the EPA’s deputy associate administrator for the Office of Public Affairs, and Patrick Davis, an EPA senior adviser.
Konkus received approval from ethics officials at the EPA to work outside the agency as a media consultant. He was approved to advise clients on “strategy, mail and media production,” according to an ethics form signed last August, E&E News reported Monday. The EPA is refusing to disclose Konkus’s clients, raising more questions about potential conflicts of interest with his official and outside work.
Prior to joining the Trump administration, Konkus worked as an executive with Jamestown Associates, a political consulting firm. According to the firm’s website, Konkus “worked on the ground tirelessly to help President Trump win Florida.”
Davis, a top official in the EPA’s Denver office and former director of Trump’s presidential campaign in Colorado, was given approval in February 2017 to work as the sales director for Telephone Town Hall Meeting, which does outreach for legislators and political […]
For many years I owned several large farming and export businesses in Mexico. One of our legal counsel was also the Attorney General of one of the states and personal counsel to that states governor. It worked out very well…for us. I am sure the same system will work out well here…for some.
Thank you for sharing. Honestly is rare these days.