A top Department of Energy official is advertising diamonds for a jewelry company, a move that some ethics experts say violates federal rules.
Assistant Secretary of Energy Audrey Robertson, who leads the new Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, appears in the 2026 “Wish Book” catalog for Colorado-based Trice Jewelers on a page touting more than $50,000 in rings, earrings and necklaces.
In the online catalog, Robertson appears with a dog above a caption describing her as “proud mother … and a loving daughter, devoted friend and lifelong Cowgirl that has had an exciting and diverse career as an Oil and Gas Entrepreneur” before listing her current DOE title.
“This is a violation of the law,” said Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota who was the chief ethics lawyer in the White House under President George W. Bush. “If she wants to be selling jewelry, why does she have to refer to her position at DOE?”
