Through election, Zinke faces heat for investigations while at Interior | #alaska | #politics

Zinke has faced accusations of wrongdoing and dishonesty from both Republicans in June’s primary, and now from his Democratic opponent Monica Tranel leading up to November’s general election. They’ve pointed to two reports from internal agency investigators as well as the sheer volume of investigations, numbering from 15-20.

Yet Zinke has insisted the investigations amount to nothing more than political theater. He points out his opponents are free to file complaints that then trigger an investigation, including over frivolous matters, such as his socks, dog and horse. He has been repeatedly cleared once investigations conclude, he says. 

“You have weaponized investigators that are biased, that can run amok, in my case, 18 investigations on my socks, my dog, etc, etc, etc.” Zinke said in a recent debate. “And they all lead to no conflict of interest, no breaking of rules and laws.”

And in answering questions about reports accusing him of attempting to mislead investigators, Zinke has maligned the conclusions and brought accusations himself of political double standards.

“After five years, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, you know what the report concluded? That I didn’t follow the employee handbook and had a lack of candor. I don’t know that means. I answered their questions. They just didn’t like my answers,” Zinke said at a recent debate.

Zinke resigned after two years as secretary, saying at the time the investigations had become a distraction to the mission of the agency. He has disputed that he was asked by former President Donald Trump to resign.

Tranel has repeatedly zeroed in on the investigations in campaign ads, interviews and recent debates and has encouraged voters to read the reports. The conclusions are serious, she says. 

“Don’t take our word for it,” she said at a recent debate. “That’s exactly what they do say — that Ryan Zinke lied to investigators.”

The exact number of investigations is somewhat a matter of definition. For example, the same complaint might be investigated by more than one entity, or look at more than one potential violation. The candidates both cited 18 as the number during a recent debate.

In late August, Interior’s Office of Inspector General released a report stating Zinke made statements to investigators “with the overall intent to mislead them” over conversations he had with lobbyists, lawmakers and other officials regarding a bid by two Indian tribes to operate a casino in Connecticut.

Both Zinke and his former chief of staff, Scott Hommel, “presented an inaccurate version of the circumstances in which (Interior) made key decisions” on the casino project, the report said. “As a result, we concluded that Secretary Zinke and (Hommel) did not comply with their duty of candor when questioned,” the report reads.

A letter from Zinke’s attorney, included in the report, said the finding that Zinke lacked candor was “wrong and without merit.”

Another inspector general report released in February stated Zinke misused his position at Interior to advance a commercial development project in Whitefish and misled agency ethics official about his involvement.

Zinke, after being named Interior Secretary, said he would step away from the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation under ethics rules barring involvement with nonprofits. He declined interview requests from federal investigators, who concluded that Zinke engaged in “repeated, ongoing substantive negotiations” with developers based on emails and text messages from others involved in the project, according to the report.

Investigators also concluded that Zinke used agency staff to perform non-official duties tied to the project, such as printing documents and arranging a meeting.

Zinke’s campaign called release of the report a “political hit job,” and said the area is used currently as a sledding hill.

The inspector general’s findings in both cases were referred to the U.S. Justice Department, which declined to prosecute the cases.

The Hatch Act prohibits most federal employees from using their positions for political purposes, although it is enforced as agency guidelines rather than criminally. Democratic lawmakers and outside groups made several complaints against Zinke alleging violations.

In one complaint, federal investigators concluded Zinke violated the Hatch Act when he posted a photo of his socks displaying a political slogan.

The Office of Special Counsel found that a photo posted to official social media accounts of Zinke’s “Make America Great Again” socks violated the Hatch Act.

Investigators did not pursue the matter further after Zinke deleted the Tweet, The Hill reported.

In April 2018, Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona, requested that the Office of Special Counsel investigate Zinke’s appearance in Florida with then-Gov. Rick Scott.

Zinke announced that Florida would be exempt from plans to expand offshore drilling, but Democrats questioned whether the exemption was meant to boost Scott’s run for the U.S. Senate.

Interior officials told CNN the appearance was official business and complied with ethics rules.

Grijalva’s office provided investigators’ response to the Montana State News Bureau. The response from April 2021 said the case was being closed, explaining that investigators reviewed documents that alone were not enough to draw a conclusion. It went on to say Zinke and others were no longer in government or available to interview.

In June of 2018, federal investigators cleared Zinke in a complaint filed by the group Campaign For Accountability for a speech he gave to the Golden Knights NHL team.

The complaint alleged Hatch Act violations due to the cost of a charter flight to the speech and Zinke’s ties to team owner Bill Foley, a contributor to Zinke’s political campaigns. But investigators concluded that the donations alone were not enough to constitute a violation.

The Office of Special Counsel also cleared Zinke of travel violations for several other events that included both official and political events. Investigators found the travel was properly documented and approved. 

Among the travel issues raised by Democrats was a government helicopter flight that allowed him to return to Washington, D.C., in time to go on a planned horseback ride with then-Vice President Mike Pence and Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt. 

In March of 2019, CNN reported that Zinke had been cleared by investigators following allegations that he made the announcement of the awarding of a grant to influence a Pennsylvania election.

In February 2018, Zinke announced grants awarded for mine cleanup at an event attended by Republican candidate for Congress Rick Saccone, then a state senator.

The Office of Special Counsel “investigation found no evidence that you violated the Hatch Act during this event,” CNN reported.

A 2018 inspector general report found that Ryan Zinke’s wife, Lola Zinke, was allowed to ride in government vehicles with him in violation of agency rules.

Interior ethics officials preapproved the trips where Lola Zinke traveled with him in vehicles, boats and Air Force One. That violated rules, but investigators found trips were approved by officials who believed the secretary was not bound by the policy. The Zinkes reimbursed the department for the travel expenses, ABC News reported.

The same OIG report found Ryan Zinke asked department officials to research the implications of making Lola Zinke an official volunteer with the department. He denied to investigators that the purpose was to ease the travel and reimbursement restrictions and she ultimately was never named a volunteer, the report states.

The report also investigated the use of an agency staffer for security purposes during a two-week vacation. Investigators found that the department assigned security due to the Zinkes’ travel through Istanbul, but it was not directly requested by the secretary.

In one section of the report, investigators say they looked into whether a department employee who was resigning had insinuated Zinke required her to walk his dog. The former employee said the allegation was untrue and that she liked the dog and volunteered to walk it. Zinke confirmed to investigators that he occasionally brought the dog to work, the report states. 

In April of 2018, congressional Democrats called for an investigation after references to human-caused climate change were removed from a National Park Service report.

Zinke repeatedly denied he had any role in changing a report on the risks of rising seas and flooding at 118 coastal parks.

Interior policy sets out a process for handling scientific information to ensure that findings are credible and “free of political influence,” ABC News reported.

Democrats in their complaint questioned whether that policy was being followed, or if politics influenced the changes to the report. The report was later published in full.

Grijalva’s office again provided investigators’ response from June 2018 to the Montana State News Bureau. Investigators said they worked in concert with Interior’s scientific integrity panel because they lacked the expertise to analyze the underlying science. The panel had expressed no significant concerns of undue political influence, and investigators said they would continue to work closely with the panel should any issues arise.

In 2017 there were news reports that Zinke threatened to withhold resources from Alaska after Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted against her party’s efforts to repeal Obamacare.

The allegations centered on a call from Zinke to Alaska Sens. Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, where Zinke was reported to have warned that the vote could have negative consequences for energy and land use in the state, according to a Reuters article.

Investigators from the OIG and Government Accountability Office dropped their probes after the senators declined to be interviewed. Zinke and Murkowski later posted a photo of them smiling and drinking beer together.

In 2018, Zinke was cleared in an OIG investigation into whether the redrawing of the boundaries of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument benefited a Republican state representative.

State Rep. Mike Noel, a critic of the monument’s designation, owned land near and within the boundary. Investigations found Noel was not provided preferential treatment and that Zinke and other officials did not know about his financial interest in the area, CBS News reported.

In April 2018, investigators said they were unable to determine if 16 agency staffers were reassigned as political retribution or punishment for their work on climate change, the Associated Press reported.

The employees alleged the moves by the new administration were meant to curb dissenting voices. Interior’s inspector general concluded they were made without clear criteria, in part because the Executive Resource Board, which decides reassignments, had not developed criteria.

One climate scientist, Joel Clement, filed a complaint of retribution and quit in protest following his reassignment. He penned an op-ed that accused Trump administration of sidelining science that might oppose extractive industries.

An Interior spokesperson at the time said the moves were made within the law and discretion of senior officials.