Watchdog files complaint alleging former top EPA lawyer failed to follow ethics law

Protect the Public's Trust, a government watchdog, filed a complaint Tuesday with the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General alleging that one of the former top attorneys at the agency failed to comply with ethics law.

"As Principal Deputy General Counsel, Melissa Hoffer served as one the highest-ranking lawyers at EPA, yet it appears she failed to comply with basic ethics law when seeking employment outside the government," the watchdog alleged.

Hoffer served as the EPA's acting general counsel from the start of the Biden administration in January 2021, and she later became principal deputy general counsel until she left the federal government in December 2022. She then joined the Massachusetts Office of Climate Innovation and Resilience as the commonwealth's first-ever "climate chief."

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that Hoffer started negotiating with Massachusetts on Nov. 28, 2022, but she did not make the ethics office aware of this until nearly three weeks later on Dec. 16.

Within 35 minutes of being informed of her departure, the ethics office sent Hoffer a notification form to complete. Hoffer did not return the signed form until Dec. 27, 2022. 

The watchdog says the timing of the notification is important because it allows ethics officials to identify potential conflicts of interest.

"As one of the agency’s most powerful attorneys Ms. Hoffer clearly should have known the rules and been diligent in ensuring that she followed them," Protect the Public's Trust Director Michael Chamberlain said. "Not only does this set a terrible example for others it adds to the by now nearly complete erosion of trust by the American public in its government."

The watchdog has filed multiple EPA ethics complaints, with many alleged violations involving officials not recusing themselves when they should have.

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