‘You’ve Personally Been Involved… Have You Not?’ Schiff Grills EPA Nom Over Green Bank Controversy

3/27/2025

During Wednesday’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee nomination hearing, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) questioned Sean Donahue, Trump’s nominee to be an Assistant Administrator of the EPA.

Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:

https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript

Stay Connected
Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes
Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes
More From Forbes: http://forbes.com

Transcript

00:00Thank you, Madam Chair. Mr. Donohue, how long have you been practicing as a member of the

00:06Bar? Since 2021, Senator. So for roughly four years? That's correct, Senator. But I graduated

00:15law school years before that, in 2017. And as a practicing lawyer for four years, do

00:23you know how many attorneys you'll be supervising at the EPA? Yes, Senator, it's over 200.

00:30Over 200 lawyers? Yes, but thankfully there is a very well laid out hierarchical structure.

00:37You would be at the top of that hierarchy, right? That's correct. So let me ask you with your four

00:41years of experience, can you open a criminal investigation without evidence of wrongdoing?

00:48Senator, I'm not a crim pro expert, but the answer to your question would be no.

00:53No. And if an attorney was asked to open a criminal investigation without probable cause

01:01to believe there was evidence of a crime, that would be improper and an abuse of authority,

01:07would it not? It very well may be, yes, Senator. And you are aware, aren't you, that a senior

01:16Department of Justice official with 24 years of experience practicing as an AUSA

01:23was asked to write a letter to a bank about the greenhouse gas reduction fund and to assert that

01:31the funds needed to be frozen because of a criminal investigation. You are aware of that?

01:37I read about this in the press, as I'm sure you did. I was not involved and still not involved in

01:44whatever criminal probe is ongoing. But you have been a participant in meetings and discussions

01:53over trying to go after the greenhouse gas reduction funds, have you not?

01:59Senator, OGC is always involved in matters of great significance as this to provide

02:09a sound legal advice. Well, I'm not asking about the office generally. I'm asking about you

02:13personally. You personally have been involved in discussions with others at EPA about going

02:17after these funds, have you not? Senator, I've been involved in a variety of discussions,

02:22including those concerning the greenhouse gas reduction fund, mostly on the civil defense side

02:30once we were sued by three of the big recipients. Knowing that it would be improper and abuse of

02:37power to open investigation or to allege that investigation was ongoing without evidence of

02:44wrongdoing, you are aware that a senior attorney at the U.S. Attorney's Office of 24 years resigned

02:52because she felt she could not ethically write such a letter to the bank or open such an

02:58investigation. Are you aware of that? As I indicated before, Senator, I did see those news

03:03reports, but I'm not intimately familiar with her work or any... Well, let me ask you this.

03:12If you were asked by Lee Zeldin to instruct the lawyers in the criminal division at EPA to open

03:20investigation without evidence of a crime, would you instruct the attorneys to do it nonetheless?

03:28Senator, the direct answer to your question would be no, I will follow the law.

03:35And what should be the repercussion be if attorneys, as Denise Chung alleges,

03:44instructed her to do so in the absence of probable cause? What should the consequence be for those

03:49lawyers? I wouldn't want to comment on that, Senator. Well, I'd like you to comment on it.

03:54You're going to be overseeing the department. You're going to be responsible for disciplining

03:58attorneys who engage in unethical conduct. So what would your recommendation be for how to

04:05discipline an attorney that would use the coercive power of the government, would announce investigation

04:10without a basis for a political reason? What would your recommendation be? Should they continue to

04:16work at the EPA or should they continue to work in the Justice Department? Senator, I wouldn't like

04:21to answer hypotheticals, but... Well, this is all too real a circumstance, not hypothetical. And

04:34the actions that are taking place right now

04:39that have caused senior prosecutors to resign over this action by EPA, that have caused other

04:45prosecutors to resign over other Department of Justice misconduct regarding the mayor of New York,

04:52the illegal actions to target law firms that represent clients or have in the past adverse

04:59to the president's personal interests, these are all terrible abuses of the coercive power of the

05:05federal government, its most dangerous power, the power to prosecute people. We need people in all

05:12these departments who are willing to say no and are willing to sanction those who engage in that

05:17kind of unethical conduct. Madam Chair, I yield back.

‘You’ve Personally Been Involved… Have You Not?’ Schiff Grills EPA Nom Over Green Bank Controversy

Category

Transcript

Recommended