Kevin Mooney explains in the Washington Examiner why a few well-placed presidential tweets could help raise awareness of a real Russian collusion controversy.
The Institute for Energy Research, a nonprofit free-market group based in Washington, D.C., filed suit on Wednesday against the Treasury Department after the agency failed to respond to a FOIA request filed in October asking for records that involve allegations of Russian financial support for U.S. environmental groups. This is part of a one-two punch that began Monday with a FOIA lawsuit IER filed against the State Department that also inquired into Russian financial support for U.S. green groups. The FOIA request to the State Department was filed in October.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, the outgoing chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, never did get a firm answer to a letter he sent to Mnuchin dated June 29, 2017, calling on Treasury to “conduct a full and complete investigation” into allegations that Russia has been funneling money into the coffers of U.S. environmental groups for the purpose of spreading propaganda against the process of hydraulic fracturing, widely known as fracking. …
… [T]here is substantial evidence of Russian meddling in the U.S. energy sector. Since Trump has made deregulation and natural gas development top priorities of his administration, it’s fair to ask why isn’t he tweeting about the alleged collusion between Vladimir Putin’s government and environmental activists. He could also order his officers at Treasury and State to comply with IER’s FOIA requests so the public can be more fully informed of the relationship between green activists and foreign interests.
