Watchdog clears former interior secretary

Internal agency found no evidence of lobbying law violations

The Interior Department’s internal watchdog on Thursday said it found no evidence former Secretary David Bernhardt violated lobbying laws regarding a former client, a California water district that is the nation’s largest agricultural water supplier, although he continued to advise them on legislative matters on occasion after he stopped being their lobbyist.

The former client, the Westlands Water District, reached a deal with the federal government in 2020 to get permanent access to irrigation water for farmers and rural communities along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

Last fall, a California judge declined to validate the contract, which has been criticized by environmentalists as a sweetheart deal favoring corporate agriculture in the drought-parched state.

Westlands, a public entity based in Fresno, Calif., has said Bernhardt was not involved in the discussions that led to the contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Bernhardt deregistered as a lobbyist for Westlands in November 2016. The inspector general’s office was investigating allegations that Bernhardt continued lobbying for the water district even after he had joined the federal government as deputy secretary of Interior in August 2017.

The report found that Bernhardt continued to advise water district officials “on their interactions with the legislative branch” and that he joined at least one conference call with congressional staff after he had deregistered as a lobbyist. But the report concluded that “the conduct we identified, standing alone, did not show Mr. Bernhardt acted as a lobbyist within the meaning of the” 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act.

The report added that it faced obstacles in gathering information. Bernhardt declined to sit for an interview with investigators, the report said, without conditions that were outside the office’s normal protocols.

Bernhardt’s attorney, Danny Onorato, said in a statement the former secretary “cooperated extensively” with the investigation, including a 26-page submission “which proved that he was fully compliant with the law.”

“Despite its shortcomings, the report completely vindicates Secretary Bernhardt,” the statement read.

A spokeswoman for Westlands said it had no comment on the Inspector General’s report.

The report said it obtained a March 2017 invoice to the water district from Bernhardt’s former law firm for more than $25,000 for “Federal Lobbying.” About four months later, Bernhardt emailed a water district official saying that the lobbying reference was “my error” and that “the matter name on the invoice should have been modified to more accurately reflect the scope of the activities, and not simply say Federal Lobbying,” according to the report. Investigators were told by the water district that Bernhardt served as a consultant after deregistering as a lobbyist.

“Once again, David Bernhardt has shown who he truly is — a swamp creature who thinks the rules don’t apply to him,” Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement.