J. Steven Griles

J. Steven Griles
J. Steven Griles
United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
In office July 12, 2001 – December 7, 2004

James Steven "Steve" Griles (born December 13, 1947) was a coal industry lobbyist and the United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior during the George W. Bush administration from July 12, 2001, until his resignation on December 7, 2004.

Griles held the second-ranking position at the United States Department of the Interior, ranking below only the Secretary of the Interior, at the time Gale Norton.

Griles "effectively was Interior's chief operating officer...and its top representative on Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force. In 2007, he pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice in the Senate investigation of the Abramoff scandal, the top Bush administration official to do so. He was sentenced to a fine and 10 months imprisonment.

Born in Clover, Virginia, Griles earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond in 1970.

Griles was formerly a principal with National Environmental Strategies, Inc. (NES), a public affairs firm that provided advice and lobbying services to companies, trade associations and others regarding policy, regulatory, environmental and energy issues at the Federal and State government level. Prior to joining NES, he was Senior Vice President for Public, Environmental and Marketing Activities for the United Company. Located in Bristol, Virginia, the United Company was a diversified natural resources company with select diversification in non-energy areas, with operations in coal, oil and gas, cogeneration, gold mining, manufacturing, real estate, hotels, and golf operations with both domestic and foreign interests.

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