Washington Reporter

Washington Reporter

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: Soros network alum working in Interior Department flagged for ethics concerns by watchdog
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Archive2

Scoop: Soros network alum working in Interior Department flagged for ethics concerns by watchdog

The Washington Reporter's avatar
The Washington Reporter
Jun 10, 2024

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: Soros network alum working in Interior Department flagged for ethics concerns by watchdog
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share
Washington Reporter

One of the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) top lawyers joined the administration just after leaving George Soros’s vast network. An ethics watchdog is now calling him the embodiment of the “revolving door spinning furiously in the Biden administration.”

Travis Annatoyn, the Deputy Solicitor for Energy and Mineral Resources at DOI, joined the Biden administration after a lengthy career working on far-left environmental causes. Annatoyn has had to recuse himself in his current position at the DOI from handling a number of entities, which range from the National Audubon Society to Democracy Forward, a dark money group that repeatedly sued former President Donald Trump’s administration, and which received at least $1 million from John Podesta’s Center for American Progress, which Podesta and George Soros co-founded in 2003.

While at Democracy Forward, Annatoyn helped sue agencies like the one he now works at — which has raised eyebrows in the watchdog world. 

Protect the Public’s Trust (PPT), one of the Biden administration’s least favorite watchdog groups, obtained thousands of pages of documents relating to Annatoyn and the DOI, which include a warning from the department’s ethics staff to Annatoyn banning him from working on matters pertaining to his former clients.

Ethics staff told Annatoyn that he “must not participate in [a] DOI review,” in which he sought involvement.

Washington Reporter

Annatoyn responded that “for posterity, I have not participated in this matter since referring it to your office.” Emails reveal that he referred this issue to the ethics office in June 2021, despite joining the administration in January of that same year.

Michael Chamberlain, PPT’s executive director,  said that Annatoyn is “yet another example of the revolving door spinning furiously in the Biden administration.” Chamberlain told the Reporter that “looking at the list of Annatoyn’s recusals, it’s amazing he was actually able to find much of anything at Interior that he could work on.”

It’s not the first time DOI senior staff have come under fire from watchdog groups. Last year, PPT submitted an ethics complaint urging the department’s inspector general to “investigate yet another apparent ethics violation by DOI Secretary Deb Haaland” that focused on concerns that she “brush[ed] aside all impartiality concerns” when she withdrew oil and gas leases from Chaco Canyon. 


Subscribe to Washington Reporter

The intersection of policy and politics, with valuable insights straight from Hill staff and D.C. insiders.

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Scoop: Soros network alum working in Interior Department flagged for ethics concerns by watchdog
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Why the Biden Pill Penalty has been a disaster for Americans
A misguided policy enacted by former President Joe Biden has led to a 70 percent decline in investment in small-molecule drugs in the United States…
Mar 20 • 
The Washington Reporter
3

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Why the Biden Pill Penalty has been a disaster for Americans
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple career intelligence staff confirm Biden admin DNI Avril Haines used Signal "all the time and on her personal phone"
Biden administration Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines used Signal “all the time and on her personal phone,” according to multiple…
Apr 3 • 
Matthew Foldi
11

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
EXCLUSIVE: Multiple career intelligence staff confirm Biden admin DNI Avril Haines used Signal "all the time and on her personal phone"
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Haridopolos: Take Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit seriously
President Donald Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century in the Arctic, Rep. Mike Haridopolos explains. Here's why it's needed.
Jan 10 • 
The Washington Reporter
13

Share this post

Washington Reporter
Washington Reporter
Op-Ed: Rep. Mike Haridopolos: Take Donald Trump’s Greenland gambit seriously
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Ready for more?

© 2025 Washington Reporter
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.