John Kerry continued to run from questions about his under-the-radar climate office Wednesday on the same day another Biden administration bigwig opted for transparency.
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh responded to a Herald Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request within six days — Kerry has said to expect his office details by October of 2024.
Walsh, the former mayor of Boston, is the top earner in his office at $203,100 with others coming in at $183,100 and under. Walsh did bring a few locals down with him — and each is making six figures, according to the documents.
Dan Koh, the former mayor’s first City Hall chief of staff who left to mount an unsuccessful congressional run, made $183,100 in 2021 as he reprised the role of chief of staff for the now-secretary in the DOL — though that’s just a bit more that Boston mayoral chiefs of staff, which has been in the $160,000 to $180,000 range in recent years.
Koh announced just this week that he’s actually moving up to the White House, where he’ll help oversee operations and communication across the Cabinet.
Then there’s John Towle, a ubiquitous former Walsh law department senior adviser who previously worked as chief of staff to then-DA Dan Conley — he’s an “executive secretary” making $173,232.
Emma Riley, who worked in Walsh’s comms office before jumping to work for Biden’s campaign in New Hampshire, is now a “traveling special assistant” to Walsh, making $107,803.
This list doesn’t appear to be exhaustive, and the DOL says it’s just limited to the “Office of the Secretary.” For example, longtime Walshite Eoin Cannon was the mayor’s speechwriter for years, and now, per LinkedIn, has the same role for the Department of Labor, but he’s not on the list.
But Walsh gave the Herald what was asked for in a similar FOIA Kerry was sent more than a year ago. Kerry, without explanation, has said he will respond to the records request by the fall of 2024 just a month before the November election.
Herald appeals have failed to move that date and Kerry is being sued by others to reveal who exactly is in his Climate Office.
The latest Kerry dodge came Wednesday as President Biden was in Somerset announcing a slate of new climate initiatives during a visit to the site of a former coal plant at Brayton Point.
Kerry did not take questions from the press assembled at the old coal plant. His office said he did do press, and they sent a series of fact sheets to back that up.
But Kerry keeps running from detailed questions about the inner workings of his Climate staff.
“The best thing President Biden could do to help the climate is to ground John Kerry’s private plane,” U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said in a tweet Wednesday.
He was alluding to a Fox News report that Kerry’s private family jet emitted over 300 metric tons of carbon since Biden took office. Kerry did not address that Wednesday in Somerset either.
Matthew Medsger, covering President Biden in Somerset, contributed.
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