President Donald Trump recently got acquitted for both articles of impeachment at the Senate but it seems that his administration may be facing another investigation. Now, an official has come forward to file a whistleblower complaint regarding environmental protection practices, or the lack of, at the Bureau of Land Management.
While Trump is currently cleaning house by dismissing all those who coincidentally served as witnesses that testified in the impeachment trials, Politicalflare reports that an official from the Bureau of Land Management has come forward to file a sweeping whistleblower complaint. Dan Patterson has filed a complaint stating that the higher-ups in the bureau, working directly under BLM director William Perry Pendley, have allegedly “ignored their basic obligations under the landmark National Environmental Protection Act,” a law that was signed in 1970 by President Richard Nixon.
Patterson goes on to claim that Pendley approved mines and drilling without any review as well as removing staff from mining expeditions in order to fast track development. One instance involved a mining engineer getting removed from reviewing a high-priority open-pit gold mine after recommending that the long-term effects of wastewater be mitigated. However, the company opposed it due to the cost. Another instance was that several well-connected families were allowed to build recreational cabins on public land under the pretense of active mining.
Patterson also reveals that once he started asking questions upon seeing these practices, his access to materials was blocked by a colleague firmly supporting Pendley and his practices. Patterson was also suspended from work and removed from certain projects.
Meanwhile, Trump still stands by his opinion regarding the severity of the brain injuries sustained by 109 soldiers during the missile attack by Iranian militia on US forces in Iraq. Business Insider reports that the soldiers were diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injuries since the encounter.
70 percent of those who were injured were cleared to return to duty, about 21 percent have been transferred for additional treatment, which seems to suggest that their injuries may be more severe. Nevertheless, Trump said in an interview with Fox Business, “And then a couple of weeks later I started hearing about people having to do with trauma, head trauma. That exists, but it’s, you know, I viewed it in a little bit differently than most, and I won’t be changing my mind on that.”