Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke — a military man who wearsranger hats backwardsand spreads conspiracy theories about how “ revolutionary conservationist ” are responsible for wildfire when he ’s not destroyingpublic land protectionsandcalling for more drilling — just criminate a sitting congressman of inebriation in revenge for writing that Zinke should resign .
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva , the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee and itslikely succeeding chairin 2019 , penned anop - ed in USA Todayon Friday read Zinke should impart his post . Grijalva take down that there are “ at least 17publicly known conventional probes ” of either Zinke or his department , including one referred to the Department of Justice in which Zinke allegedly met with a Montana property developer and the president of oil contractor Halliburton to lead them on a hidden , private term of enlistment of the Lincoln Memorial . That ’s at the same clock time his family foundation , which Zinke may have still been involved with , isdiscussing a realm dealwith a Halliburton - backed investment group and the developer in question . Grijalva contribute :
Beyond his personal foible , he has overseen the degradation of his department ’s senior work forcefulness in the name ofenforcing “ loyalty”to himself and the Trump administration ; announced his intention tocut M of permanent positions ; prompt mass resignation from a nonpartisanNational Park Service advisory boardby refusing to meet with member ; and tied his own employee and aides in knots to make himself and his married woman morefinancially prosperous .
In revenge , Zinke go forth a mind - blowing argument to Twitter order that it is “ hard for [ Grijalva ] to guess straight from the bottom of the bottle , ” referring to allegations that Grijalva pay up $ 48,000 in break to a distaff commission staffer that was allegedly imperil to sue him for sottish behavior and a uncongenial work environs . The incident was deal by veracious - flank media , butas Vox observe , the incident was ignore by the Office of Congressional Ethics , which “ find out no evidence to support the title that the staffer was paid inappropriately . ” Zinke also demand Grijalva resign and compensate the bill for ethics investigation of his own so-called misconduct .
My intellection on Rep. Grijalva ’s opinion piece.#TuneInnForMorepic.twitter.com / VMGxdtHwvU
— Secretary Ryan Zinke ( @SecretaryZinke)November 30 , 2018
It ’s hard to think how Zinke could have deal this worse : It ’s true that Grijalva was accuse of misconduct , but as theTucson Sentinel noted , conservative media like the Washington Times that covered the alleged malicious gossip get several key facts about the matter , such as her exact chore , wrong . The congressman has been adamant that he does not drink while working , that the claimsnever involvedsexual torment , and that his alcohol uptake has beenlong under control .
Conversely , Zinke ’s ethics problems are much more numerous : He mightface criminal chargesrelated to the Din Land deal . Politico wrotethat yet another ethics investigation involves the Interior Department ’s rejection of plans for an American Indian casino in Connecticut , elevate dubiousness as to whether hecaved to lobbyingby opponent MGM International . Several other investigations have arouse troubling signs , Politico added , including incident where Zinke stress to undermine department insurance to improperly justify using government funds to compensate for his wife ’s travel expense and allegedly threatened Alaska senator and Senate Energy chair Lisa Murkowskiwith retaliationover her vote against a GOP plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act :
But last month , the IGfoundthat Zinke had seek to skirt or change department policies to rationalize his taxpayer - funded trips with his wife . in the first place itfoundthat he had not in good order let out ties to donor Bill Foley , whom he used a charter flying to visit last year while on prescribed business . An former investigation into say political scourge against Murkowski was deemedinconclusiveafter investigators said Zinke did not collaborate .
In October , Zinke was briefly report to beconsidering firingthe Department of Interior ’s inspector general and filling the slot with a Donald Trump stalwart with limited experience . After a significant amount of literary criticism , Interior claim media had merely gotten the story wrong .
As Grijalva noted in his op - ed , he is a top candidate to head the Natural Resources Committee when the newly elected Democratic majority takes power in 2019 and his scrutiny of the secretary “ will only escalate as part of my and my colleagues ’ legitimate oversight duty . ”
“ My jaw did literally drop when I take it , ” Center for Western Priorities spokesman Aaron Weisstold the New York Timesof Zinke ’s tweet . “ It is so far outside the norms and just foul , I guess , to even go there . But then immediately after that my intellect go to how strategically piteous a choice it is to counteract the likely incoming chairperson of the committee that you have to answer to . ”
[ USA Today / New York Times ]
conservationPoliticsryan zinke
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