A Republican commissioner on a federal mine safety agency sought advice on personnel matters from a closely held collection of outside advisers that appears to have included at least one coal industry executive, according to documents obtained by POLITICO
A newly obtained memo outlines a Republican commissioner's use of a "Network" of inside and outside advisers when weighing personnel matters at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
Marco Rajkovich, who chaired the agency during the Trump administration and is now one of its three commissioners, disclosed the existence of the group of advisers, whom he dubbed the “Network,” in an April 2020 personnel memo that has not previously been reported. A person familiar with the agency’s work later shared the memo with POLITICO.
The memo later came to the attention of the agency’s current chair, Arthur Traynor, who expressed concern in his inspector general request this year that Rajkovich’s group “appears to have been comprised at least in part of top executives of coal and other mining concerns, some of whom were recent former clients of Rajkovich’s law firm.
In an emailed response to a request for comment about whether he played a role in any alleged financial malfeasance, Rajkovich said that “there were no improprieties on my part and I certainly deny those allegations. I don’t have any further comment.” Former President Donald Trump nominated Traynor and Rajkovich to the agency, while Republican Commissioner William Althen has served at the commission in various roles since Barack Obama’s presidency.
The prospects for Biden’s nominees being confirmed would be uncertain starting in January if Republicans win control of the Senate in the midterm elections although both nominees were unanimously advanced out of the Senate HELP Committee this year.On March 28, 2022, after reading Rajkovich’s personnel memo, Traynor wrote to Allison Lerner, chair of the executive branch’s Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency, to request an inspector general review of the matter.
“We have a once-in-a-while opportunity to place a good person in a pivotal position that could last for several years,” Rajkovich wrote in an email to Lovell, who now works for the energy sourcing company Hallador Energy. The personnel memo predominantly focuses on a commission official who has since retired. The memo cites “Network due diligence” in levying allegations of potential improprieties by the official and includes attacks on the person’s character based on personal assessments that Rajkovich said he had received from “Network” members. It also discusses what Rajkovich describes as a previous internal review of the former official’s conduct.
That larger dispute has pitted Rajkovich and Althen against Traynor, whom Biden elevated to the chair’s role last year. Burr and Sen., citing allegations from Rajkovich and Althen that the chair has overstepped his authority and created a hostile work environment., alleging that Traynor had retaliated against two career staffers. Burr and Braun’sto fire Traynor cites as an example of hostile behavior Traynor’s moves to put one of the career employees on leave for “unexplained reasons.
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