tags: Julie MacDonald, Interior Department, politics
Julie MacDonald, a Bush appointee who resigned earlier this month as Interior Department deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks, is being investigated by Democrats because she was involved with delisting an endangered species to protect her financial interests. According to the Contra Costa Times, MacDonald removed the threatened Sacramento splittail fish from the federal threatened and endangered species list while she was profiting from her farm that lies within the habitat area of the threatened fish.
Today, Representatives George Miller of California and Nick Rahall of West Virginia, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, wrote to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne requesting a full accounting of MacDonald's role in the Sacramento splittail decision.
Miller and Rahall asked for an explanation of her apparent conflict of interest, and a thorough review of the science underlying the decision to remove the Sacramento splittail from the threatened species list.
"It looks like another Bush administration official was protecting her own bottom line instead of protecting the public interest," said Miller, a senior member and former chairman of the Natural Resources Committee and a long-time proponent of the Endangered Species Act and Bay-Delta fish and wildlife issues.
"This news raises serious questions about the integrity of the Interior Department and its policy decisions," Miller said. [story]
Killing an endangered species will result in an average person receiving a hefty fine and some time in jail, so I hope the authorities follow through and make MacDonald pay the maximum fine and jail time for her inexcusable greed, especially because of her so-called importance as a Bush appointee. Not only did she willingly disregard the welfare of an endangered species, but she misused her public office for personal gain.
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But the Dems will only investigate because she was a Rep.
When's the last time the Dems called for the head of a Dem who was using political office for personal gain? Or the reverse?
When's the last time a democrat in a comparable position did anything like this? Is there a story you can link to?
She should be forced to forfeit her farm so that it can be used as a refuge for this endangered species and be made to pay for any and all corrective enhancements required for this species survivial. After that we'll talk about her jail sentence. NO COMPROMISE.
This sounds like an overreaction to me. The fish was listed as threatened, not endangered. There were local and state level decisions that support the federal one. I am not sure that MacDonald's farm operation would have been impacted, since there are not that many regulations about habitat preservation for threatened as opposed to endangered species.
Azkyroth is correct. i cannot remember any democrat being this smarmy during my lifetime, either. can you?