(Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren is calling on former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry to step down from the board of the general partner that controls Dallas-based pipeline giant Energy Transfer LP.
In a letter dated Jan. 16, Warren said Perry's decision to join the board is “unethical” because Energy Transfer lobbied the Department of Energy he oversaw. The company is led by billionaire Kelcy Warren, who isn't related to Elizabeth Warren.
“As Energy Secretary for the first two years of the Trump administration, you were one of the chief architects in planning and executing the federal government's energy policy,” Warren wrote. “This is exactly the kind of unethical, revolving-door corruption that has made Americans cynical and distrustful of the federal government.”
Energy Transfer is “pleased to have Former Secretary Rick Perry as a board member of our general partner,” Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an email. She said the company wouldn't provide additional comment on board members.
Perry, a two-time U.S. presidential candidate who was Texas governor for more than a decade, was appointed to the board of LE GP LLC on Jan. 1. Energy Transfer is structured as a master limited partnership. The limited partner -- Energy Transfer LP -- is publicly traded, while the general partner is closely held, with Kelcy Warren controlling a majority stake.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rachel Adams-Heard in Houston at radamsheard@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Christine Buurma, Catherine Traywick
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