Tag: Ryan ZInke

Zinke is the Cabinet official most vulnerable to Democratic probe, White House fears

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has come under scrutiny on multiple fronts. He faces inspector general probes and has faced more than a dozen investigations. (Luis Velarde /The Washington Post)

White House officials have identified Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke as the Cabinet member most vulnerable to a congressional probe under a Democratic House majority in January, putting the colorful secretary closer into the president’s crosshairs, according to two senior administration officials briefed on the matter.

The new assessment comes as President Trump is weighing whether to dismiss Zinke, according to the officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Trump has told aides he will make a decision next week after he returns from Paris.

At the White House on Friday, Trump gave Zinke a tepid vote of confidence. Asked whether he would fire Zinke, the president said “No” but quickly added,“I’m going to look into any complaints.”

View the complete November 9 article by Juliet Eilperin, Lisa Rein and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

Newly released emails suggest Zinke contradicted ethics pledge

The interior secretary continued to work on issues regarding his Montana land holdings in 2017 despite a one-year recusal.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke continued to engage in discussions involving his family foundation’s property in summer 2017 despite the fact that he had pledged to recuse himself from such matters for a year, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post.

At issue is an August 2017 email exchange with David Taylor, the city planner for Whitefish, Mont. Zinke authorized him to access the property and explained that he was engaged in negotiations with a real estate developer over building a parking lot on his foundation’s land. But under an ethics pledge he signed Jan. 10, 2017, Zinke vowed to step down from his position as president of the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation after winning confirmation and refrain from participating in any matters concerning the group for one year.

Zinke won confirmation on March 1, 2017, but state records and the foundation’s 2018 annual report listed him as continuing to serve as a foundation officer months after that. Zinke later said the foundation’s report was in error.

View the complete November 5 article by Juliet Eilperin on The Washington Post website here.

Interior watchdog referred Zinke probe to Justice days before move to replace agency IG

The Interior Department’s internal watchdog referred its investigation of Secretary Ryan Zinke to the Department of Justice (DOJ) more than two weeks ago, just days before it was announced that Interior would be getting a Trump political appointee to replace its acting inspector general, two sources confirmed to The Hill.

Ben Carson, head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), told his staff on Oct. 12 that Suzanne Tufts would be leaving HUD to replace Interior’s longtime acting inspector general (IG), Mary Kendall — after the watchdog referred its probe to the Justice Department, according to two government sources with knowledge of the timeline.

One source described the timing as “incredibly circumspect” and raised questions about whether the plan to have Tufts fill a position traditionally occupied by a career staffer was in reaction to the investigation that was referred to the DOJ.

View the October 31 article by Miranda Green on the Hill website here.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke violated the department’s policy on travel, the agency’s watchdog concluded

US Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke rides a horse to his first day on the job, shutting down DC streets. Credit: US Dept of the Interior, Flickr

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s approach to his wife’s travel and activities sparked concerns among the department’s ethics officials, according to a new report issued Thursday by Interior’s inspector general office.

The report determined that staff in the department’s solicitor office “approved Lolita Zinke and other individuals to ride in Government vehicles with Secretary Zinke” despite the fact that Interior policy prohibited this practice. The employee who authorized the move told investigators that “she routinely advised” Zinke’s aides “that it would be ‘cleanest’ and ‘lowest risk’ if she did not ride with him,” but could find a way to justify it. This summer, Zinke changed Interior’s policy so that family members could ride along with him.

Zinke confirmed to investigators that he had gotten his staff to research the possibility of giving his wife a volunteer job at Interior, a move that one ethics official objected to on the grounds that it was designed so Zinke wouldn’t “have to pay” for her travel. Zinke subsquently “denied that it was an effort to circumvent the requirement to reimburse the DOI for her travel,” the report states.

View the complete October 18 article by Juliet Eiplperin, Lisa Rein and Josh Dawsey on the Washington Post website here.

Trump team blames ‘terrorist groups,’ not climate change, for wildfires

The following article by Dan Desai Martin was posted on the ShareBlue.com website August 16, 2018:

Citizens petitioning their government, a right protected in the First Amendment of the Constitution, are being called ‘terrorists’ by the Trump administration.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP Photo

In a desperate attempt to blame anything except climate change for the deadly wildfires rampaging across California, Trump’s Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blamed “environmental terrorist groups” for the blazes. The escalation of rhetoric is a troubling trend in an administration known for authoritarian impulses.

Within the first minute of an interview with Breitbart, a site with known white supremacist ties, Zinke used the word “terrorist” to describe groups that have different political ideas than him.

Zinke claims, citing no specific examples, that environmental groups prevent the type of forest management Zinke says would prevent these catastrophic wildfires. The result is an increase in the “fuel load” that feeds fires, such as dead limbs and twigs.

View the complete article here.

 

Zinke said he would never sell public land.

The following article by Darryl Fears and Dino Grandoni was posted on the Washington Post website August 16, 2018:

Giant land sale? 1,600 acres once part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument may be sold under new plan

The Upper Gulch section of the Escalante Canyons within Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument features sheer sandstone walls. Credit: Douglas C. Pizac, AP

The Trump administration is proposing to dispose of federal land in Utah that was protected within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument until its boundary was redrawn by the Interior Department earlier this year — despite Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s assurance last year that he would not sell public lands.

The proposal to possibly sell 1,600 acres came to light Wednesday when the Bureau of Land Management released a plan to manage two national monuments that were dramatically reduced by the administration, Grand Staircase and Bears Ears, which is also in Utah. That would appear to directly contradict what Zinke said at his Senate confirmation hearing: “I am absolutely against transfer or sale of public land.”

In a statement to The Washington Post on Thursday, Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said “the secretary still opposes the sale or transfer of federal land.” Swift said the bureau is legally required to identify federal property suitable for disposal in its land-use planning.

View the complete post here.

Zinke takes forestry fight to fire-ravaged California

The following article by Miranda Green was posted on the Hill website August 12, 2018:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is seizing on California’s wildfires to promote a policy long-supported by Republicans — that fires could be stopped if forests were logged.

The former Montana congressman is poised to push the benefits of what’s known as forest management at an event with Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in California on Monday next to the state’s largest forest fire in history.

Yet it’s not just the blaze that makes the trip important for Zinke and Perdue.

View the complete article here.

Trump officials went on a taxpayer-funded shopping spree. Here’s the bill.

The following article by Adam Peck was posted on the ThinkProgress website April 24, 2018:

Last week, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer joined the cabal of cabinet-level officials from the Trump White House who have to defend themselves against charges of misusing taxpayer dollars for his own benefit.

The New York Post discovered that Lighthizer had authorized nearly $1,000,000 in spending to renovate two of his Washington, DC offices on the taxpayer’s dime. That figure included a 30-inch, $859 plaque emblazoned with the words “Executive Office of the President,” 90 office chairs billed at $600 apiece, and a $3,500 antique desk for himself. Continue reading “Trump officials went on a taxpayer-funded shopping spree. Here’s the bill.”

Ryan Zinke is pretending to be a geologist

The following article by A.P. Joyce was posted on the mic.com website April 20, 2018:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images

It’s been discovered that Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke lied about his credentials on multiple occasions, telling people that he is a geologist, when in fact his is not and has never been.

An analysis by CNN found at least 40 occasions in which Zinke claimed to be a geologist, frequently using it to boost his credentials on issues like resource extraction, which his department deals with frequently.

While attending the University of Oregon on a football scholarship, Zinke majored in geology — a major he claims in his autobiography to have chosen at random. Continue reading “Ryan Zinke is pretending to be a geologist”

While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about John Bolton

The following article by A.P. Joyce was posted on the mic.com website March 23, 2018:

This week, the news cycle has centered squarely on the ongoing Russia probe and unfolding drama at the White House, and excluded many other political news developments.

President Donald Trump began the week by attacking special counsel Robert Mueller specifically, rather than the Russia probe in general, for the first time on Twitter. He kept up his criticism as the week dragged on, even as his top lawyer in the case, attorney John Dowd, unexpectedly resigned on Thursday. Continue reading “While you weren’t looking: 5 stories from the Trump administration that aren’t about John Bolton”