Watchdog says Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke failed to properly document travel

The following article by Lisa Rein and Drew Harwell as posted on the Washington Post website November 16, 2017:

Credit: Molly Riley/AP

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has failed to keep complete records — and in some cases kept none at all — of his travel since taking office, the agency’s watchdog told department officials this week, saying that management of Zinke’s travel was “deficient” and lacked oversight.

rare alert sent by Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall to the secretary’s office Wednesday, obtained by The Washington Post, said her investigation into allegations of improper travel practices by Zinke has been stymied by “absent or incomplete documentation for several pertinent trips.”

Interior lawyers and ethics officials also have not shown evidence to investigators that they have been able to “distinguish between personal, political and official travel” or cost-analysis documents to justify his choice of military or charter flights, Kendall wrote. Continue reading “Watchdog says Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke failed to properly document travel”