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What happened at Devin Nunes water forum with Interior Secretary? We can’t tell you. Here’s why
Rep. Devin Nunes held a major water forum in Tulare County on Tuesday afternoon that excluded The Fresno Bee.
U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, the nation’s top ranking administrator of federal waterways, was a speaker. His department manages the Central Valley Project, which delivers water from Shasta Dam to San Joaquin Valley farms.
Nunes has routinely concealed his public schedules in California for the past several years and rescheduled fundraising events when logistical details have leaked. The water forum on Tuesday was not a private fundraiser.
Nunes is pursuing a lawsuit in Virginia against The Fresno Bee’s parent company, Sacramento-based McClatchy. It is one of six lawsuits that Nunes filed last year against news organizations, Twitter, an investigative research firm that worked for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, and people who criticize him online.
In opening remarks, Nunes characterized Bernhardt as someone with a serious interest in agriculture, according to a video of the forum posted byFKMPH Fox 26.
“This is someone who took the time to come, not for just a flyby and drop by and give a speech. Normally what the secretaries of interior do is they fly into Fresno and they fly in immediately to Yosemite for a photo op,” Nunes said. “We’re damn glad you spent three days down here Mr. Secretary with us.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, was initially listed as a speaker in event information shared by the Clovis Chamber of Commerce. McCarthy did not attend.
Jason Phillips, chief executive officer of the Friant Water Authority, was listed as moderator of the event held at the International Agri-Center in Tulare.
The office of McCarthy said he did not attend since he was traveling with President Donald Trump. The president is expected to visit Bakersfield on Wednesday, where he’s expected to finalize a plan to move more water through the Delta to the southern half of the state.
Spokespeople for Nunes did not respond to questions about The Bee’s exclusion.
Melissa Brown, deputy press secretary for the Department of the Interior, declined to answer McClatchy’s questions, referring them to Nunes’ office.
Alexandra Biering, a spokesperson for the Friant Water Authority, said the authority was “unfortunately not in control of the guest list” but did not comment on Nunes’ decision to exclude The Bee.
As secretary of the Interior, Bernhardt leads an agency with more than 70,000 employees who are stewards for 20% of the nation’s lands. His department oversees the development of energy supplies on public lands and waters, is the largest supplier and manager of water in 17 Western states, and upholds trust responsibilities to 574 federally-recognized Native American tribes and Alaska Natives.
Reporters denied by Nunes office
The Fresno Bee learned at 10 a.m. Tuesday that its reporters would not be allowed to cover the event, after receiving tickets Thursday via email after registering for it on an Eventbrite website.
“I saw you registered for the event today,” Nunes’ staffer Crystal Ervin said in a voicemail to The Bee, “but I want to make it clear that it’s invited press only, and you’re not on the list and your ticket will not scan at the door.”
Some other local media organizations, including KMPH and ABC30, were allowed to cover the event.
It is unusual for an elected representative to prevent a news organization from covering an event with a cabinet secretary.
Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for the government watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said excluding The Bee was an abnormal move for a congressman, and it was possibly motivated by a personal vendetta against The Bee.
“From a transparency standpoint, this is not good,” Libowitz said. “From a congressional standpoint, it’s confusing, because usually members of Congress really want reporters to cover this.”
“The only reason I can think of to exclude them is to punish or because he doesn’t want to answer questions,” he added.
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