Last month, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told George Stephanopoulos that the Biden administration would not be using “past definitions of infrastructure.” What did she mean by that, exactly?
Do any of the new definitions of infrastructure include “major conflict of interest” or “corruption”?
Back in January, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Granholm stood to make up to $5 million for stepping down from her position on the board of electric-vehicle company Proterra, should she be confirmed as Energy Secretary. Well, in a totally shocking turn of events, Granholm was confirmed — and Joe Biden has been promoting the hell out of Proterra.
President Biden touts electric car company potentially worth millions for his energy secretary https://t.co/Ru9QomeBnc
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 6, 2021
Who knew? Guess some bad Democratic optics are too awful for even CNN to ignore.
More from CNN:
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ efforts to sell their green agenda and infrastructure plan are being complicated by a thorny conflict of interest for Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm — who stands to gain a windfall from stock options in a private electric vehicle company.
Last month, Biden took a virtual tour of Proterra, a company Granholm holds millions of dollars in vested stock options in and previously sat on the board of. During the tour Biden praised employees and the CEO for their work in the electric vehicle space.
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That Granholm even promoted electronic cars as part of the administration’s climate push is already ethically questionable, experts say, but Biden and Harris’ direct highlighting of Proterra is even more problematic as it could increase the company’s value when it goes public — and increase Granholm’s profits.
“Proterra was selected for the virtual visit that day because it is the leading U.S. manufacturer of electric buses, employing 600 workers at its South Carolina and California plants,” a senior administration official said of Biden’s visit. “Neither Secretary Granholm nor the Department of Energy were involved in selecting the Proterra plant.”
Suuuuuure they weren’t.
🚨 This is… a pretty huge scandal.
Granholm stands to make millions when this company goes public, and Biden is out here touting it alongside his “infrastructure” push. https://t.co/0xLe2L6FjC
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 6, 2021
Or, rather, it should be a huge scandal.
How is this not a massive corruption scandal? https://t.co/rmTUbolg4J
— kaitlin, rino attention seeking whore (@thefactualprep) May 6, 2021
Asked, and answered:
-> (D) https://t.co/A8S7NMd28V
— RBe (@RBPundit) May 6, 2021
Works every time.
the green part of green energy is the money https://t.co/bWhC0jwoY1
— Dr. Ricardo Harambe (@Richard_Harambe) May 6, 2021
That also works every time.
On a related note, apparently Media Matters — for whom Granholm served as an adviser — has been decidedly displeased with the Free Beacon’s coverage:
new from @AndrewStilesUSA and me in @FreeBeacon:
Our reporting on @SecGranholm owning up to $5 million of stock in an electric battery company the Biden admin has repeatedly promoted has struck a nerve with @mmfa.
MMFA…which paid Granholm $200,000!https://t.co/qSladBtmyh
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) May 5, 2021
More:
Media Matters defended its former adviser’s wealth in a piece accusing “right-wing media” of inventing a “fake scandal” about Granholm’s ties to Proterra—without specifically refuting any of the points raised in the Free Beacon‘s coverage of the scandal.
In its attempt to defend Granholm, Media Matters conceded that she has yet to offload her seven figures of stock in Proterra. “The [White House] official also said that Granholm was ‘in the process of selling off all stock in the company,’ which would be completed ‘within the 180-day window permitted by the ethics agreement,'” Eric Kleefeld wrote in the liberal outlet.
Buried at the bottom of the Media Matters piece is a kernel of information: “Granholm advised Media Matters prior to entering the administration.” While the piece linked to Granholm’s financial disclosures in its discussions about Proterra, the dark money group failed to mention how much it paid for Granholm’s services—a total of $200,624 in monthly retainers—and its role in helping her become a millionaire.
Media Matters’ outrage raises a good question:
First reported by @MatthewFoldi and the @FreeBeacon.
Their initial reporting was attacked by Granholm’s former colleagues at Media Matters. Will they go after CNN? https://t.co/gF6eB3Vo8K
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) May 6, 2021
Stay tuned to find out!
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