Biden’s science office to staff: Stop recording each other

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Mar 10, 2022 View in browser   By Alex Thompson and Max Tani Presented by Facebook Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration.  Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max The White House's science office wants staffers to KNOCK. IT. OFF. Seriously. Like, right now. On March 4, the current head of the office, ALONDRA NELSON, issued an internal directive to all staff "effective immediately" that prohibited "the use of electronic or mechanical devices to monitor or record communications" with few exceptions. "Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action up to and including removal from Federal service," read the Office of Science and Technology (OSTP) directive, a copy of which was obtained by West Wing Playbook. The internal move comes after we reported on March 2 that Nelson had told staff to stop recording internal conversations and sharing them with reporters. We obtained a recording of that conversation from people who believe the office needs an overhaul beyond just the departure of ERIC LANDER, who resigned last month after an internal investigation found he had bullied and disrespected subordinates. Some current and former staffers note that the investigation into Lander also implicated at least some of the leaders around him. The White House's team found "credible evidence of disrespectful interactions with staff by Dr. Lander and OSTP leadership," according to, yes, an audio recording of an internal briefing on the internal investigation. The briefing did not specify who among OSTP leadership was implicated. An OSTP spokesperson said that "we heard from a lot of staff who no longer felt comfortable speaking up in meetings because they were concerned they were being taped by someone. As part of creating a supportive workplace, we established a policy. Ours is modeled on the Office of Administration policy. Treasury has an even more succinct, one-sentence version that is established in the Code of Federal Regulations." But while the directive forbidding recordings may be designed to give some staffers comfort to speak up in meetings, it also potentially risks depriving other staffers a form of protection against bad behavior from their superiors. After all, Lander only resigned following the public revelation of the internal investigation, the details of which were shared with POLITICO through a recording of an internal briefing. And ethics lawyers say the directive may not have teeth anyways. "At best, it's debatable whether it's even enforceable," said DAVID SEIDE, senior counsel at the Government Accountability Project (GAP) — a nonprofit that represents whistleblowers at every level of government — citing whistleblower laws, the First Amendment, and one-party consent rules in Washington. Seide and GAP are currently representing OSTP's deputy counsel and chief operating officer, RACHEL WALLACE, as a whistleblower after she went on the record about Landers' behavior. The office has taken the lead on future pandemic planning and Biden's signature "cancer moonshot." Nelson's directive states that the "policy is intended to foster trust and collaboration between colleagues by ensuring they can communicate candidly and openly with each other in pursuit of maximizing the benefits of science and technology for all Americans without fear of surreptitious recording." The directive is written to be broadly applied. "OSTP employees, fellows, contractors, interns, consultants, detailees, and assignees shall not, in the course of official duties, while on government property, or during assigned work hours, use any electronic or mechanical device to overhear, transmit, or record communications with any person(s) without the consent of each party to the communication," it states. A recording can only be made if authorized by the director or their designee. The enforcement of it may be in doubt, but Seide argues that such a directive will not fix the underlying problem at the office. It could even make it worse. As he put it: "It's a sad commentary on the climate or culture within that office that they even have issued that directive." TEXT US — Are you JON FINER, deputy national security adviser? We want to hear from you (we'll keep you anonymous).  Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow.  Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr/WhatsApp Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.   POTUS PUZZLER We have a special submission from Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. BRENDAN BOYLE: Who was the last presidential nominee of either major party who did not win a single presidential primary or caucus? (Do you have a harder question than Rep. Boyle? Send it to westwingtips@politico.com as we may feature. Consider this a challenge!)   SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL SECURITY DAILY : Keep up with the latest critical developments from Ukraine and across Europe in our daily newsletter, National Security Daily. The Russian invasion of Ukraine could disrupt the established world order and result in a refugee crisis, increased cyberattacks, rising energy costs and additional disruption to global supply chains. Go inside the top national security and foreign-policymaking shops for insight on the global threats faced by the U.S. and its allies and what actions world leaders are taking to address them. Subscribe today.     The Oval GAME OF TELEPHONE — White House press secretary JEN PSAKI today pushed back on a recent Wall Street Journal story which reported that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN refused recent calls from Biden to discuss Russia and energy prices. "That report is inaccurate," she said. "There were no rebuffed calls, period." In a statement to West Wing Playbook, a spokesperson for the Journal said the paper stood by its reporting. "The story is accurate, and the sourcing is rock solid," STEVE SEVERINGHAUS said. BOOKMARK THIS: Responding to questions about high gas prices, Psaki told reporters that they believe the price hikes will be, essentially, transitory. "We do anticipate that gas prices and energy prices will go up.…We also believe it will be temporary and not long lasting," she said. WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE WANTS YOU TO READ: BILL BURNS' testimony on the U.S.' attempts to beat back Russian disinformation, which was shared on Twitter by White House officials today. The CIA director argued that although he felt the Russians had bested America in the murky space of online disinformation in the past, the U.S. had been successful "disrupting their tactics and their calculations and demonstrating to the entire world that this is premeditated and unprovoked aggression built on a body of lies and false narratives." WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ: The Russian invasion of Ukraine isn't just threatening to drive up the already sky-high price of gas. Global markets have also been rocked this week by a crisis in the international nickel market, which could reverberate for months to come. Russia is a major supplier of nickel, which is a key component of batteries in electric vehicles, one of the primary ways environmentalists and Biden White House hope to wean Americans off of gas.   A message from Facebook:   Agenda Setting PITY THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS — America may be in for more of those viral videos of airline passengers freaking out about being told to wear a mask. The Biden administration announced today that it was planning on extending the travel mask mandate through mid-April as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention crafts new guidance for masking on mass transit. The current order was set to expire this month. THE BUREAUCRATS WELP — Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN told CNBC today: "We're likely to see another year in which 12-month inflation numbers remain very uncomfortably high." SCAMMERS BEWARE: The Department of Justice is continuing to crack down on fraud that emerged when the federal government flooded the market with stimulus when the pandemic began in early 2020. The DOJ announced today that Associate Deputy Attorney General KEVIN CHAMBERS is set to take over the department's pandemic fraud efforts. "With a Chief Pandemic Prosecutor now in place, the Department of Justice will escalate our efforts to crack down on bad actors — and take all efforts to seize relief money stolen from American families, businesses, and schools during the last Administration and deliver it back to the American people," Biden said of Chambers' appointment. Advise and Consent L.A. CONFIDENTIAL INVESTIGATION: Biden's nominee for ambassador to India, ERIC GARCETTI, has not yet gotten a full Senate vote. And it now could be a while, if at all, before that happens. Our colleagues MEGAN WILSON and CHRIS CADELAGO report that Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY (R-Iowa.) has asked Minority Leader MITCH MCCONNELL (R-Ky.) to put a hold on the Garcetti nomination while his office investigates allegations that the L.A. mayor knew about sexual harrassment allegations against a top aide. The White House is standing by Garcetti. But this is a mess. The U.S. has thrown diplomatic shade at India for not being more on board with the international community's condemnation of and pushback to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It probably would help to have an ambassador there. EHEM, WE'RE WAITING — Speaking of the OSTP… top House Republicans on the oversight committee and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology sent a letter today to Biden's counsel, DANA REMUS. In it, they renewed "their request for all reports, documents, and communications related to allegations of a toxic work environment" in the science office. The Republicans on those committees had sent their initial request for those documents in early February but claim they have not received a response. You can read their latest letter: here.   DON'T MISS CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     What We're Reading The 82nd Airborne Division has a new commander (Task & Purpose's Haley Britzky) U.S.'s Raimondo Warns Chinese Firms on Evading Russia Sanctions (Bloomberg's Jenny Leonard) Covid aid faces uncertain path on Capitol Hill as White House warns of severe consequences(POLITICO's Alice Miranda Ollstein) Where's Joe He held a meeting at the White House with the president of Columbia to celebrate the 200 year anniversary of "positive diplomatic relations," between the two countries. In the evening, he'll make a short trip over to the Washington Hilton to address the Democratic National Committee during its winter meeting. Where's Kamala She was in Warsaw, Poland today for a series of events aimed at supporting Ukraine and reassuring allies in the region. She spoke at the Warsaw Marriott Hotel with Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU and held a roundtable with Ukrainian refugees. The Oppo Book KELSEY DONOHUE, a recent addition to JILL BIDEN's communications team, has a thing for First Ladies. After her time at Marist College, she applied for a job in Michelle Obama's office. And as part of the process, she earnestly brought in a physical copy of her undergraduate thesis from 2012 entitled "Michelle Obama and Let's Move!: Legacy and Future" that she did under her professor, JENNIE DONOHUE (no relation). Either because of or in spite of bringing in her thesis, Donohue got the job and became the then-first lady's assistant press secretary. POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Per Encyclopedia Britannica, "Humphrey entered no primaries, but he was able to gain enough delegates in those states without primaries to give him apparent control over the convention." A CALL OUT — Do you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your hardest question on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Sam Stein A message from Facebook: We're making investments in safety and security—and seeing results Facebook has invested $13 billion over the last 5 years to help keep you safe. Over the last several months, we've taken action on: •62 million pieces of explicit adult content •51.7 million pieces of violent and graphic content See how we're working to help you connect safely.     Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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