Justice Dept. investigating whether Zinke lied to inspector general

The Justice Department’s public integrity section is examining whether newly departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his agency’s inspector general investigators, according to three people familiar with the matter, a potential criminal violation that would exacerbate Zinke’s legal woes.

Zinke, who left the Trump administration Wednesday, was facing two inspector general inquiries tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his involvement in reviewing a proposed casino project by Native American tribes in Connecticut. In the course of that work, inspector general investigators came to believe Zinke had lied to them, and they referred the matter to the Justice Department to consider whether any laws were violated, the people familiar with the matter said.

The department’s public integrity section has since been exploring the case, the people familiar with the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The extent of its work is unclear, though the inspector general had questioned witnesses in an apparent attempt to scrutinize Zinke’s account, one of the people said.

View the complete January 3 article by Matt Zapotosky, Josh Dawsey, Juliet Eilperin and Lisa Rein on The Washington Post website here.

Zinke picks fight with key Dem at an odd time

Rep. Raúl Grijalva is prepared to work with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who on Friday tweeted that it is “hard” for the Arizona Democrat “to think straight from the bottom of the bottle.”

Zinke’s public insult of the likely incoming chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee was both a sign of the times in President Trump’s Washington, and the kind of deeply personal jab that managed to turn heads.

An oil industry lobbyist who’s been supportive of Zinke’s policies said the tweet didn’t benefit anyone, and he said it’s stirring more speculation that Zinke, who is under federal investigation for a number of alleged ethical breaches, may be planning to leave office soon.

View the complete December 4 article by Timothy Cama on The Hill website here.

Ryan Zinke To U.S. Rep. Whose Grandparents Were Imprisoned In WWII: ‘Konnichiwa!’

The following article by Ryan Grenoble and Kimberly Yam was posted on the Huffington Post website March 15, 2018:

Zinke made the dumb comment in response to a plea that we not forget a dark moment in our country’s history.

Let’s all hope President Donald Trump’s next candidate for secretary of state isn’t Ryan Zinke. Because as evidenced by a stupid blunder on Thursday, diplomacy isn’t his strong suit.

The incident centers around Zinke’s tone-deaf reaction to Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii), whose grandfathers were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II for their Japanese heritage. She said one of her grandfathers, a U.S. citizen, didn’t speak about the painful experience until much later in life. Continue reading “Ryan Zinke To U.S. Rep. Whose Grandparents Were Imprisoned In WWII: ‘Konnichiwa!’”

Ryan Zinke’s trip to Pennsylvania may have violated the Hatch Act

The following article by Mark Hand was posted on the ThinkProgress website March 13, 2018:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Credit: Melina Mara/Washngton Post via Getty Images

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s visit to a small town south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, less than three weeks before a special election, is drawing scrutiny to determine whether the official trip was really an opportunity to throw his support behind the Republican hoping to fill the open congressional seat.

Several politicians were on hand for the February event in East Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, reportedly organized to announce how much funding Pennsylvania will receive in abandoned mine grant funding. The most prominent politician on hand was Rick Saccone, a Republican candidate for Congress who has received strong support from President Donald Trump. Continue reading “Ryan Zinke’s trip to Pennsylvania may have violated the Hatch Act”

Trump Administration Targets Obama-Era Effort to Limit Methane

The following article by Lisa Friedman was posted on the New York Times website February 12, 2018:

An Obama-era rule would have limited the flaring of natural gas, as seen here at an oil well near Watford City, ND Credit: Andrew Cullen/Reuters

The Trump administration on Monday moved to repeal one of the last unchallenged climate-change regulations rushed into place in the waning days of the Obama presidency — a rule restricting the release of planet-warming methane into the atmosphere.

The rule, which applied to companies drilling for energy on federal land, has been the subject of intense court battles and delay efforts, as well as one surprise vote last year in which Senate Republicans temporarily saved it from being torpedoed.

Methane, which is about 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, accounts for 9 percent of all domestic greenhouse gas emissions; about a third of that is estimated to come from oil and gas operations. Under the rule, oil and gas companies would have been required to capture leaked methane, update their equipment and write new plans for minimizing waste when drilling on government property. Continue reading “Trump Administration Targets Obama-Era Effort to Limit Methane”

Zinke’s agency held up Indians’ casino after MGM lobbying

The following article by Nick Juliano was posted on the Politico website February 1, 2018:

Two tribes in Connecticut say the Interior Department illegally failed to say yes or no to their plans for a third casino in the state.

The Interior Department’s refusal to sign off on the tribes’ plans for a third Connecticut casino came after Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and other senior department officials held numerous meetings and phone calls with MGM lobbyists and the company’s Republican supporters in Congress. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Two casino-owning American Indian tribes are accusing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of illegally blocking their plans to expand operations in Connecticut — a delay that stands to benefit politically connected gambling giant MGM Resorts International.

The Interior Department’s refusal to sign off on the tribes’ plans for a third Connecticut casino came after Zinke and other senior department officials held numerous meetings and phone calls with MGM lobbyists and the company’s Republican supporters in Congress, according to a POLITICO review of Zinke’s schedule, lobbying registrations and other documents. The documents don’t indicate whether they discussed the tribes’ casino project. Continue reading “Zinke’s agency held up Indians’ casino after MGM lobbying”

Where’s Zinke? The interior secretary’s special flag offers clues.

The following article by Lisa Rein was posted on the Washington Post website October 12, 2017:

The flag of the Interior Department’s deputy secretary, bottom, flew last week above the headquarters building in downtown Washington. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

At the Interior Department’s headquarters in downtown Washington, Secretary Ryan Zinke has revived an arcane military ritual that no one can remember ever happening in the federal government.

A security staffer takes the elevator to the seventh floor, climbs the stairs to the roof and hoists a special secretarial flag whenever Zinke enters the building. When the secretary goes home for the day or travels, the flag — a blue banner emblazoned with the agency’s bison seal flanked by seven white stars representing the Interior bureaus — comes down.

In Zinke’s absence, the ritual is repeated to raise an equally obscure flag for Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt. Continue reading “Where’s Zinke? The interior secretary’s special flag offers clues.”

Interior Secretary Zinke’s claim that the U.S. has struggled to produce ‘low-cost, abundant and reliable energy’

The following article by Nicole Lewis was posted on the Washington Post website October 11, 2017:

President Trump made several false claims — new and repeated — about coal, energy, the Paris Accord and the environment at an event celebrating ‘unleashing American energy’ on June 29. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“Our country has inherited an energy-dependent country from previous generations, and in recent years, we’ve struggled to be self-sufficient in producing low-cost, abundant and reliable energy.”

— Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, in remarks during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Sept. 29, 2017

During a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Sept. 29, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke laid out his vision for U.S. energy dominance. In his opening remarks, Zinke said the Trump administration does not support an agenda of “regulation and red tape,” which he argues keeps the U.S. reliant on foreign energy sources and weakens its national security. Continue reading “Interior Secretary Zinke’s claim that the U.S. has struggled to produce ‘low-cost, abundant and reliable energy’”

Federal watchdog opens probe into travel by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke

The following article by Lisa Rein was posted on the Washington Post website October 2, 2017:

Members of President Trump’s Cabinet have been taking noncommercial flights at the expense of taxpayers, and Trump says he’s “not happy.” (Monica Akhtar/TWP)

The inspector general for the Interior Department has opened an investigation into Secretary Ryan Zinke’s travel during seven months in office, from his use of taxpayer-funded charter and military planes to his mixing of official trips with political appearances.

Nancy K. DiPaolo, a spokesperson for Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall, described a broad investigation into Zinke’s “travel in general,” including “modes of travel, costs and schedules.” Continue reading “Federal watchdog opens probe into travel by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke”