This Week, Activists Will Take to the Bikes to Urge Members of Congress to Reject Bernhardt for Interior Head
April 9, 2019
NOTE TO REPORTERS
This Week, Activists Will Take to the Bikes to Urge Members of Congress to Reject Bernhardt for Interior Head
Mobile Bike Protesters Will Traverse Both Sides of Capitol Hill Denouncing Nominee’s Conflicts of Interest
WHAT: To remind members of Congress that Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt likely is President Donald Trump’s most ethically conflicted nominee and deserving of the moniker, “Swamp Monster,” Public Citizen is unleashing a team of bike activists on Capitol Hill this week to circle between Union Station, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
Over the next several days, activists will bike Capitol Hill towing green images of Interior Department nominee Bernhardt with the phrase “King of the Swamp.”
Public Citizen has raised awareness around Bernhardt’s numerous conflicts of interest and failure to accurately release his public schedule. Public Citizen also filed an ethics complaint regarding whether Bernhardt violated Trump’s executive order on ethics. Bernhardt has so many conflicts – more than departed Secretaries Tom Price, Scott Pruitt, David Shulkin and Ryan Zinke combined – that he carries with him a notecard listing them all.
Bernhardt lobbied for many years for the fossil fuel, mining and water industries. Corporations he represented include Halliburton Energy Services, Cobalt International Energy, Sempra Energy, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Colorado Oil & Gas Association, Rosemont Copper Company and Cadiz, Inc.
See a photo of bikers here. More photos will be available upon request.
WHEN AND WHERE: 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. EDT, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – Activists on bikes will circle by Union Station, the U.S. Senate Office Buildings and the U.S. House Office Buildings near the entrances on Columbus Circle NE, Constitution Avenue NE and Independence Ave SE.
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