Former GOP New York Rep. Lee Zeldin expressed his worries about a report that the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency was “tossing gold bars off the Titanic” in distributing billions of dollars before the Democrat leaves office.
Zeldin made the comments during his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday as he gears up to be the Trump administration’s administrator of the EPA.
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“There was a video a few weeks ago of a political appointee at the EPA who was talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic’ to distribute billions of dollars before Inauguration Day,” Zeldin said during the hearing.
The former New York congressman was referring to a Project Veritas video from December in which a person named Brent Enfron, who has worked for the EPA as “special advisor for implementation,” said, “Now we’re trying to get the money out as fast as possible before they come in and stop it all.”
The video then cut before Enfron added, “It truly feels like we’re on the Titanic and we’re throwing like gold bars off the edge.”
Enfron said the “gold bars” are going to “nonprofits, states, tribes.”
Project Veritas is a right-wing group founded by James O’Keefe and often records undercover videos of political officials. New York Magazine, which is considered left-leaning, wrote an article in 2010 criticizing Project Veritas for editing videos “severely” and misleading viewers. Recording videos secretly without a subject’s consent, a tactic used by liberal groups as well, is a crime in some states and is considered journalistically unethical.
The EPA is aware of the video, having responded to an inquiry from the group seeking comment.
“EPA remains on track to a timeline we set years ago to award funds from President Biden’s Investing In America Agenda,” an EPA spokesman said. “These funds are benefiting millions of Americans regardless of where they live, protecting communities from pollution and driving economic growth.”
“EPA is dedicated to managing all appropriated dollars with transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness to achieve and deliver meaningful results for the American public,” they added. The spokesman was not clear about if the employee has been disciplined or is still employed by the EPA.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the EPA for comment on the video and the employee’s status but did not receive a response.
Zeldin is a former four-term congressman from New York, and he ran for governor in his home state in 2022, losing to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY). Trump’s choice of Zeldin for EPA administrator has been criticized because he lacks a record of fighting against climate change.
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He still promised to be a “good steward” of the environment. “I strongly believe we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of our environment for generations to come. It’s been so motivating to see the tremendous talent stepping up to serve at the EPA. I couldn’t be more excited to partner with our EPA team nationwide to exceptionally serve the American public,” he said in his opening statement.
He added, “I will foster a collaborative culture within the agency, supporting career staff who have dedicated themselves to this mission.”