August, 12 2022, 12:41pm EDT
What The Hell Is Anita Dunn Even Allowed To Work On?
In response to the release of White House senior advisor Anita Dunn's 93-page financial disclosure document, and reported White House promises that she will divest and recuse herself from any work that could constitute a conflict of interest, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser released the following statement:
WASHINGTON
In response to the release of White House senior advisor Anita Dunn's 93-page financial disclosure document, and reported White House promises that she will divest and recuse herself from any work that could constitute a conflict of interest, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser released the following statement:
"Anita Dunn consulted for Pfizer, so she shouldn't work on healthcare issues. She owns stock and has complex investments in Chevron, so she shouldn't work on climate change. She has bond holdings in Lockheed Martin, so she shouldn't work on military and foreign policy issues. She holds thousands of dollars of Wells Fargo and Visa debt, so she shouldn't work on consumer credit issues. And she's advised companies from Lyft to Salesforce to Reddit, so she shouldn't work on most Big Tech issues."
"What's left? If the White House is taking its ethical obligations seriously and recusing Dunn from all policy areas where she has money in the game, well, what will she even be doing?"
"This only underscores our concerns from Dunn's two previous tours through the White House, when she tiptoed around disclosure laws and ethics pledges by only serving as a Special Government Employee. Now that she's finally filed a disclosure, we know she received consulting income from Pfizer. She previously advised the President during the COVID-19 vaccination boost early in his Presidency. How is remotely okay for a company making billions on government orders of its vaccine to get political and communications advice from a recent Presidential advisor, and then have that advisor head right back into the White House all while the pandemic rages on? This should be disclosed if it was going to happen, obviously, but the bigger issue is that it is happening at all."
"Dunn's career is seemingly predicated on revolving back and forth between Democratic White Houses and her firm SKDKnickerbocker. Whenever a corporation is in serious danger of new regulations or prosecutions by a Democratic administration, they start cutting checks to SKDKnickerbocker, which sets its star players to work neutralizing the threat. Dunn is the biggest star they have. It is an entirely unnecessary stain on the Biden administration's record that they would prioritize the President's personal trust in Dunn over basic ethical accountability."
The Revolving Door Project (RDP) scrutinizes executive branch appointees to ensure they use their office to serve the broad public interest, rather than to entrench corporate power or seek personal advancement.
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A multinational survey commissioned by Greenpeace International and published Monday revealed that a majority of respondents favor making fossil fuel companies pay for being the main cause of the climate emergency.
Greenpeace International's Stop Drilling, Start Paying campaign commissioned the strategic insight agency Opinium Research to survey 8,000 adults in eight countries—Australia, Argentina, France, Morocco, Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States—ahead of this month's United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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