You have probably been following the Reflecting Pool debacle — the tens of millions of dollars taken from the National Park Service and wasted on a failed Trump vanity project — and the malicious prosecution of an Olympic canoeist for damage caused by the contractor.
The people responsible have not been held accountable. That must change.
This outcome — failing projects plagued by political pressure, insider contracting, and the sidelining of career experts — is now the norm in Washington. It is also what happens when cabinet secretaries stop serving the American people and exist solely to serve the president.
Interior Secretary Burgum, who is responsible for the National Park Service, had every opportunity to tell the truth. Instead, he chose to repeat the vandalism narrative that his own staff and the Department of Justice’s legal filings had demolished. That is a profound betrayal of his staff, the public, and his oath of office.
PEER is calling on Congress to investigate this whole fiasco and demanding that those responsible face real consequences. The National Park Service and its employees deserve honest leadership, and so do you.
You can read our press release on the issue.
Sincerely,
Tim Whitehouse
Executive Director
P.S. We have met our summer Double Trouble fundraising goal three weeks early! We can’t thank you enough for your support!
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