A top prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C, resigned on Tuesday over an order to open a criminal investigation into Biden-era climate-related contracts.
Denise Cheung, head of the criminal division in the D.C. office, sent a resignation letter to interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin. In the letter, Cheung said that she decided to resign her post after refusing to open a criminal investigation and issue grand jury subpoenas related to “whether a contract had been unlawfully awarded by an executive agency before the change in Administration.”
The investigation cited by Cheung is believed to be part of an effort by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to claw back at least $20 billion-worth of green energy contracts issued in the final weeks of the Biden administration, previously targeted by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin as “gold bars off the Titanic.”
The funds Zeldin identified were found in a Citibank account and marked to be dispersed under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which, despite its name, is widely recognized as a largely green energy and climate action-oriented piece of legislation.
Zeldin has said that he wants those taxpayer funds clawed back and returned to the U.S. Treasury. In a statement announcing the discovery, Zeldin said his agency would work with the Department of Justice to take back the funds.
Cheung in her letter said she “took point” on a letter to Citibank requesting that the funds be frozen, but refused to comply with an order from Martin to take harsher measures to ensure the funds stay in place.
“[B]ased upon the evidence I have reviewed, I still do not believe that there is sufficient evidence to issue the letter you described, including sufficient evidence to tell the bank that there is probable cause to seize the particular accounts identified. Because I believed that I lacked the legal authority to issue such a letter, I told you that I would not do so. You then asked for my resignation,” Cheung wrote.
Zeldin has characterized the $20 billion in funds as waste that was directed to eight “pass throughs” that were then going to direct the money toward other pass through groups.
“What the American public voted for was having a government that would be better stewards of tax dollars, caring about the economy, unleashing energy dominance, making sure that taxes are lowered, and the cost of living in America goes down,” Zeldin said in a Fox News interview on Tuesday.
$20 BILLION in tax dollars stashed at an outside bank to split among 8 pass through entities to give to other entities, including even more pass throughs. With massively reduced oversight controls at EPA, this was a recipe for disaster from the start! pic.twitter.com/ZLaN2WfG6R
— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) February 19, 2025
