Democrats accuse Wright of lying to Congress

News Democrats accuse Wright of lying to Congress Comments: by Rachel Frazin - 08/05/26 6:33 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Rachel Frazin - 08/05/26 6:33 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Energy & Environment

The Big Story

Democrats accuse Wright of lying to Congress

Two House Democrats have formally referred Energy Secretary Chris Wright to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for potential prosecution, accusing him of lying to Congress about whether green grants were canceled for partisan reasons.

Greg Nash

In a letter made public on Wednesday, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Gabe Amo (D-R.I.) accused Wright of lying when he testified that the billions in climate-related funding was not selected for cancellation because it would have primarily gone to Democratic states.

“Secretary Wright lied to the Committee with his statements, which sought to prevent us from learning the truth: that the October award terminations were an act of political retaliation,” Lofgren and Amo wrote in their letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“In doing so, he violated 18 USC §1001, which bars individuals from making ‘any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation’ to Congress. We have no choice but to refer Secretary Wright to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution in this matter,” they added.

The referral does not necessarily mean that the Justice Department will take up the case — the Trump administration is unlikely to go after one of its own Cabinet secretaries — and it also does not necessarily mean Wright is guilty.

But it is a significant escalation in tensions over the nearly $8 billion that the Trump administration axed last year.

Reached for comment on Wednesday, an Energy Department spokesperson maintained that “none of the termination decisions were based on political considerations.”

“The Secretary’s statements in his testimony are correct,” said an email from the spokesperson, who did not sign their name and responded from a generic press office email.

Read more at TheHill.com.

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