Republican members of the House Oversight Committee are launching an investigation into a senior official of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ties to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
In a letter shared on Tuesday, several members of the committee inquired about Dr. Chris Frey, the deputy assistant administrator for science policy in the Office of Research and Development at the EPA. He was appointed to his role by the Biden administration. Frey reportedly served as an adjunct professor at HKUST. On his official biography page on the EPA’s website, several previous job titles and other affiliations are listed. However, Frey’s ties to HKUST are omitted.
In the letter, it is noted that Frey did not resign from his previous position at HKUST before joining the Biden administration. Rather, Frey took an unpaid leave of absence and presumably plans to return to his role once Biden is no longer in office.
“At a time when the Biden Administration is pushing for costly climate change ‘solutions’ that benefit China, it raises questions about why a senior EPA official has such strong ties to China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases,” the letter reads. “It is imperative that all officials at EPA, particularly senior political appointees are taking their ethical obligations seriously and not using positions of public trust to benefit former employers or foreign governments.”
The letter requests a bundle of documents and correspondences pertaining to Frey and HKUST by Sept. 21. “These connections raise concerns about Dr. Frey’s role as the highest-level political appointee serving in the office charged with conducting ‘the research for EPA that provides the foundation for credible decision-making to safeguard human health.’”
The signers of the letter include Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH), Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), and Rep. Yvette Herrell (R-NM).
In May, the ties between Frey and HKUST were first unveiled when a recusal statement, penned by Frey, was made public. In the statement, Frey said “I have a financial interest in North Carolina State University (NC State) and the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST) from which I have taken a two-year, unpaid leave of absence.”