DENVER—In response to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s tweet attacking Representative Raúl Grijalva, the ranking member and likely chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Executive Director Jennifer Rokala:
“Even by Secretary Zinke’s standards, this is a new low. It’s unbecoming of a cabinet secretary. It’s also foolish to pick a fight with a member of Congress who will soon have oversight and subpoena power over your agency. We, and the American people, look forward to full investigations into Secretary Zinke’s unprecedented and ongoing ethical lapses.”
Secretary Zinke is facing at least five open investigations into his conduct, the most serious of which involves a land deal with the chairman of Halliburton. After meeting with the developer and Halliburton Chairman David Lesar in the secretary’s office, the group went to the Biergarten Haus in Washington, DC to discuss Zinke’s long-standing dream of opening a brewpub in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish.
Zinke’s investigation count, totaling eighteen open and closed investigations, now far exceeds his last four predecessors, who collectively were the subject of eleven Office of Inspector General and the Office of Special Counsel investigations.