By Audrey Streb (Daily Caller News Foundation)
Former Biden officials corresponded with staff at top universities while still in positions of power and later secured plum roles at those institutions, according to documents first obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI), a watchdog organization.
David Turk, former DOE Deputy Secretary, and Shalanda Baker, former Director of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Justice and Equity, had a history of communications and arranging meetings with their current employers while still in the Biden administration, emails reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.
Turk landed at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs at its Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) as a “distinguished visiting fellow” in January 2025, after he was messaging and scheduling meetings with university staffers from February to October 2024, according to the documents. In September 2024, the DOE announced that Columbia University was selected to enter award negotiations for a portion of a $68 million AI initiative. The DOE then committed $450,000 to Columbia for the AI project, according to USA Spending.gov and Columbia’s website.