Tony Irish
Role at the time: Former Interior Department attorney responding by email
Condemned
Statement summary
Irish questions whether the statutory conditions for cancellation were met and whether a real or imminent dispute existed to settle. He says the agreements and amendments deepen his concerns.
“In my view, particularly in combination with the lease amendments, it makes the lease cancellations more patently unlawful and enhances my concerns,”
Open source (opens in a new tab)Klein and Irish question legal basis for wind lease refundsDirect quotations from Klein and Irish; lease-cancellation and Judgment Fund analysis
Why we used this label
Relative to whether the payments complied with the Judgment Fund Act, Irish argues that under the amended leases there would be no controversy to settle and no imminent threat of a lawsuit, the condition he says allows use of the fund, and calls the cancellations more patently unlawful. He criticizes the legal basis for the payments, so condemns fits.