ALBERT FALL HAD SUPERVISION OF OIL LEASES TRANSFERRED TO INTERIOR DEPARTMENT
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) According to Frederic William Wile of the Evening Star, former Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall "negotiated and concluded the Teapot Dome deal with the Sinclairs* without consultation with the Harding cabinet."
Mr. Wile, writing on January 24, 1924, adds that the "Harding household" only learned of the Teapot Dome transactions when they read about them in the newspapers.
The oil leases had been granted to the Department of the Navy by Congress in the last years of the Woodrow Wilson administration, but it was President Warren G. Harding's cabinet officer, Mr. Fall, who had supervision over the leases transferred to the Department of the Interior.
*Sinclair Oil Corporation was founded by Harry F. Sinclair in 1916. SOC became one of the largest privately owned American corporations owning refineries, gas station & hotels.
SOURCE
"Teapot Dome Lease Deal Declared Handled Unknown To Cabinet," by Frederic William Wile, January 24, 1924, The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
