The math is simple, and it stares out from ELI’s own website: more than 2,000 American judges trained on environmental law since 2018. That is the Climate Judiciary Project. That is the program now at the center of a national security watchdog’s formal request for a congressional investigation.
The watchdog’s report does not mince words. It describes ELI’s relationships with what it terms Chinese government-affiliated and CCP-linked entities.
It frames the issue as a counterintelligence problem, not a routine Washington review. That is a different category of concern. It means political leaders are being told to treat this the way they would treat a foreign spy operation, not a grant audit.
The timeline matters. Back in autumn 2025, EPA Deputy Administrator Fotouhi issued a memo.
It declared it “no longer in the Agency’s interest for employees to participate in their official capacity in any conference, program or other event organized by the Environmental Law Institute.” That ban covered the Climate Judiciary Project. It also covered ELI’s Annual Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., scheduled for October 7, 2025. The EPA cut ties first.
The watchdog followed weeks later with a broader warning. Why the EPA acted is clear from the memo. The concern was about alleged attempts to “inappropriately influence the judiciary,” particularly in climate litigation and judicial education programming.
Training judges on environmental law sounds neutral. The watchdog’s argument is that the partnerships behind that training were not neutral.
ELI’s decades of China-related work included cultivating partnerships with organizations the report identifies as tied to Beijing. The watchdog says that history turns a judicial education program into a vulnerability. Where does this land now?
The watchdog’s request carries weight because it comes from an agency whose job is to flag exactly these kinds of vulnerabilities. That is its statutory purpose.
It does not make accusations lightly. Whether lawmakers will open a formal investigation is the next question. And how deep that probe might go is the one after that.
A counterintelligence framing demands a different level of response than a typical oversight hearing. The organization itself, the Environmental Law Institute, has trained more than 2,000 American judges through its Climate Judiciary Project since 2018. That number is from ELI’s own website.
It is not in dispute. The dispute is about what that training involved, who the partners were, and whether the program was a vector for influence.
The watchdog’s report argues the latter. The EPA’s earlier decision to sever ties suggests the agency saw the same risk. This is not a small story buried in a committee report.
It is a national security watchdog formally asking Congress to investigate a nonprofit that has had direct access to the American judiciary. The EPA has already acted.
The question now is whether Congress will follow. The answer will determine whether this remains a bureaucratic memo or becomes a full-blown investigation with subpoenas and hearings. The watchdog made its position clear.
The rest is up to lawmakers.
Sources
- China-linked green group training US judges draws fresh heat …
- National security group report questions Environmental Law …
