The Interior Department’s inspector general determined that former Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau violated ethics rules when he participated in a 2023 meeting on offshore well safety rules, despite holding about $10,000 in stock in oil and gas companies.
In an investigation published Tuesday, and initiated at Beaudreau’s request, the inspector general’s office found the former No. 2 official at Interior violated prohibitions that bar senior Interior officials from having financial interests in specific companies, such as those that have energy projects on federal lands.
The report noted however that there were “factors mitigating Beaudreau’s culpability,” such as that he had not authorized the purchase of the stocks on his behalf — and sold them four days after learning they existed. However, within that time, he participated in the meeting the OIG examined.
“We concluded that Beaudreau violated the Federal conflict of interest statute … when he participated in a meeting involving a particular matter in which he knew he held a financial interest that would be directly and predictably affected by the matter,” the report states.
