As to the re-emergence of the Sharpie-gate idiocy, something is not sitting right.
On July 25, the story broke that 2 NOAA employees, physicist Stephen Volz and attorney Jeff Dillen, were relieved of their positions.[1] The unsigned NOAA statement stated that the employees were removed for “conduct”, but news stories and social media posts cited the employees’ connections to SharpieGate. This coincided with Congress weighing whether to appoint Neil Jacobs to lead NOAA. The supposition is that these employees were involved in the SharpieGate investigation, and were removed by Jacobs or as a favor to Jacobs.
To summarize SharpieGate, Trump got in his head that hurricane Dorian (6 years ago) was headed for Alabama, despite all evidence, and drew a new path for the hurricane on a cardboard map for the press while tweeting “…Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated”. Twenty minutes later, the National Weather Service in Alabama, in response to calls for residents, accurately posted, "Alabama will NOT see any impacts from Dorian." Trump’s minions couldn’t admit that dear leader was wrong, so in turn, issued an unsigned statement a few days later claiming that there was a 20% chance of Dorian hitting Alabama.
Since accurate weather reports are kind of important, folks were calling for an investigation into the matter. This task fell to Dr. Stephen Volz, NOAA’s science integrity officer. However, Volz did not lead or conduct the investigation. As ethics dictate, he asked outside groups to perform it. The incident was investigated by the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) and U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General.[2] The NAPA report stated that Jacobs "violated the Code of Ethics for Science Supervision and Management set forth in Section 7.01 of NOAA's Scientific Integrity Policy when they failed to engage the Birmingham WFO in the development of the September 6 Statement."
As far as I can tell, no one was never held accountable for this. In fact, violating a code of ethics, to the Trump regime, is a badge of honor. While the episode was embarrassing, it certainly pales in comparison to, say, a Secretary of Defense posting battle plans on a social app.
So, here’s what bothered me. Why remove these long-time employees during the nomination when it would only call attention to a 6-year-old ethics violation? Why not wait until Jacobs is confirmed?
Being petty and stupid are certainly a possibility, but perhaps Sec of Commerce Howard Lutnick, billionaire, fraudster[3], illegal gambler,[4] bought a townhouse from Jeffrey Epstein[5], is clearing the field for the privatization of U.S. weather data and assets. Breaking up NOAA and privatizing weather forecasting is a goal of Project 2025, and Lutnick was a co-author.
This isn’t my theory. This is from Dr. Volz as quoted by the WaPost:
Volz speculated that the timing of the action against himself and NOAA Deputy General Counsel Jeff Dillen was coincidental, and that he was actually being targeted due to his increasingly vocal opposition of plans to more aggressively privatize NOAA’s satellite programs.[6]
Dr. Volz has a good reason to advocate against privatization. In addition to his position as Chief of Integrity, he was the head of NOAA’s National Environmental, Data, and Satellite Services (NESDIS) which operates and manage the fleet of environmental satellites, providing us with both daily weather reports and alerts for severe weather. NESDIS in 2024 had a budget of $1.8B, about 1/3 of NOAA’s total budget. That’s about $5.25 for each US citizen per year.
Imagine how much private industry would LOVE to charge you for that information. Who would benefit? Start with Lutnick’s sons, Kyle and Brandon:
The billionaire also ran a financial firm, (Cantor Fitzgerald), which he recently left in the control of his adult sons, that stands to benefit if President Donald Trump’s administration follows through on a decade-long Republican effort to privatize government weather forecasting.[7]
He also took a company called Satellogic public, an emerging federal contractor that according to Lutnick in 2021 is “uniquely positioned to dominate the Earth Observation industry.”
Neil Jacobs is also a fan, stating before congress in 2023 that “They (NOAA) give it away to the rest of the planet for free,”. In 2019, there was Barry Lee Myers, former CEO of AccuWeather, and failed NOAA nominee. He withdrew for “medical” reasons after he was featured in a segment by John Oliver. A 2005 bill by then-Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would have eliminated the free dissemination of weather information provided by the National Weather Service.[8]
So I ask, what is more likely, Volz removed for being a minor player in a minor ethical violation, or being a major impediment to Lutnick handing his sons a monopoly on US weather assets?
At Jacob’s nomination:
“This raises suspicions," said Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). "Is this a potential canary in the coal mine? Whether this is years-in-the-making retaliation, as reported, or smoothing the way for a politicized NOAA to make decisions without experts disagreeing, it reeks of impropriety.[9]
PS: As far as I can tell, the other employee had no connection to Sharpiegate. All searches came up empty. From his NOAA bio, Mr Dillen was one of two Deputy General Counsels for NOAA's Office of General Counsel overseeing legal work for “the National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, and NOAA's research and satellite programs.” Hmm.
[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/two-high-ranking-noaa-employees-connected-sharpiegate-incident-put-lea-rcna221113
[2] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/former-top-noaa-scientist-craig-mclean-trump-sharpie-gate-warning/
[3] https://www.salon.com/2024/12/13/howard-lutnicks-cantor-fitzgerald-settles-65m-fraud-claim/
[4] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/06/howard-lutnick-sports-gambling-00202692
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Lutnick#Personal_life
[6] https://balancedweather.substack.com/p/flash-flooding-and-heat-continue
[7] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/as-trump-slashed-weather-agency-his-appointees-have-ties-to-companies-that-stand-to-benefit-from-privatizing-forecasts
[8] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-what-project-2025-says-about-the-national-weather-service-and-noaa
[9] https://democrats-science.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-lofgren-questions-purge-of-high-ranking-civil-servants-at-noaa
