Unearthed videos: Biden Treasury nominee says she wants to 'bankrupt,' 'starve' the oil and gas industry to save the climate



In a pair of recently unearthed videos posted online, President Joe Biden's nominee for a key Treasury Department role admitted that she wants to "starve" and "bankrupt" oil and gas firms in order to save the climate.

Saule Omarova — Biden's nominee to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — already faces an uphill climb toward confirmation in lieu of a Marxist paper she wrote in college and past support for radical, progressive initiatives such as the National Investment Authority proposal, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Now her resurfaced comments about bankrupting the fossil fuel industry may only further complicate her prospects.

What did she say?

"Here what I'm thinking about is primarily the coal and oil and gas industry. A lot of the smaller players in that industry are going to probably go bankrupt in short order, at least we want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change," Omarova said in one clip from March.

The clip, which shows Omorova speaking during the Jain Family Institute's "Social Wealth Seminar" series, was reportedly uncovered by the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative political research group.

Biden nominee Saule Omarova saying the quiet part out loud. On the oil, coal and gas industries:\n\n"We want them to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change."pic.twitter.com/luMR2HEMK9

— BidenNoms, A Project of AAF (@bidennoms) 1636492204

In another clip from May, the nominee went into more detail about her aims of financing green infrastructure projects by diverting investments away from the oil and gas industry.

"The way we basically get rid of those carbon financiers is we starve them of their sources of capital," she said at a virtual roundtable on "investment and decarbonization," again hosted by the Jain Family Institute.

Investment and Decarbonization www.youtube.com

Why does it matter?

The unearthed videos are not good news for Omorova's chances at confirmation.

With all 50 Republicans expected to oppose her nomination, the 55-year-old Cornell Law professor needed unanimous support from Democrats in the chamber. But Axios reported over the weekend that at least three Democrats — Sens. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), Kyrsten Sinema (D., Ariz.), and Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) — have raised concerns over her nomination.

Speaking with the Daily Caller, AAF founder Thomas Jones said, "I just don't understand how the White House is going to go explain this to the Jon Testers or the Joe Manchins of the world, that she wants to bankrupt employers who employ a significant number of the constituents in their state. I think it's unconscionable."

"At the end of the day, these are people's lives, people are going to lose their jobs because she's going to support policies that are there to drive them out of work," he added.

David Chipman nomination for ATF to be withdrawn in another major defeat for Biden admin



In a major victory for gun rights activists, the White House will reportedly withdraw the nomination of David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.

Politico reported Thursday that Chipman, a former ATF agent and current senior policy adviser to the gun control advocacy group Giffords, had lost the support of several moderate Democrats in the Senate, which doomed his confirmation. Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told the White House in August that he would not support Chipman's confirmation, and Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) were also unwilling to back him.

Senate Republicans were unanimously opposed to Chipman's confirmation, citing his extreme anti-gun record, misleading statements, and disturbing allegations that he made derogatory comments about black ATF agents during his time with the agency.

During his Senate confirmation hearing, Chipman sent up red flags for Republican senators and Second Amendment advocates with his evasive answers to the question, "What is an assault weapon?" His repeated attempts to dodge the question and his final answer that an "assault weapon" is "any semi-automatic rifle capable of accepting a detachable magazine above the caliber of .22" caused concern that as the director of ATF, he would instruct the agency to increase regulations on rifles commonly used for sporting or self-defense.

Other disturbing details about Chipman's record emerged thanks to the work of the American Accountability Foundation, a non-profit government watchdog group that focuses on executive branch personnel. In May, AAF filed Freedom of Information Act requests for records related to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaints filed against Chipman during his 15-year tenure at ATF.

The Daily Caller reported the records were related to an incident in 2007 in which Chipman allegedly made a derogatory comment about black ATF agents performing too well on a selection exam.

In June, AAF sued to get records related to allegations that Chipman made racist remarks to colleagues. https://t.co/38swP6P0WV

— BidenNoms, A Project of AAF (@bidennoms) 1631192806.0

AAF also unearthed an incident reported by the Federalist regarding a time when Chipman allegedly lost his service weapon after storing it in his vehicle, against ATF employee regulations. Chipman denied the allegations in written Senate testimony and ATF said there was no record of Chipman's weapons being lost or stolen.

After refusing to turn over his employee files, AAF sued to make his history public. https://t.co/Mio5e3RHms

— BidenNoms, A Project of AAF (@bidennoms) 1631192807.0

Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, praised the news that Chipman's nomination will be withdrawn.

"The mainstream media will act like David Chipman's nomination was pulled solely because of his gun control advocacy. The reality is the Biden Administration nominated an ethically deficient individual with charges of racism and losing his service weapon to head the agency Biden would use to implement their gun control agenda," said Jones.

"The Biden Administration showed they will ignore ethical disqualifications to fulfill their radical agenda. Fortunately, commonsense prevailed in the Senate today but we must remain vigilant after the Biden Administration showed they care nothing for ethical standards," he added.

It is unknown when the White House will officially withdraw the nomination, but according to Politico it could happen as soon as this week.

Chipman is the second major Biden administration nominee to be withdrawn, following the defeat of Neera Tanden's nomination to lead the White House Office of Management and Budget.