Kabinetts-Flucht ist weiter im Gange, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke verlässt die Regierung.
Der korrupte Zinke fürchtet wegen seiner Machenschaften Untersuchungen seitens der Hausdemokraten und Strafverfolgung im nächsten Jahr.
The main probe, which has been turned over to the Justice Department, centers on Zinke’s involvement with a Montana land deal backed by David Lesar, the chair of Halliburton, an oil field services company. A foundation established by Zinke and run by his wife, Lolita Zinke, owns land in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana. Lesar’s developer is planning to build on some of the land, Politico reported this summer. The proposed hotel and retail stores that the developer wants to build in Whitefish also stand to boost property values in a nearby parcel of land owned by the Zinkes.
As an oil field service firm, Halliburton has direct and indirect business involving the Interior Department, which manages mining and drilling rights on federal lands.
The Washington Post revealed this week that Zinke remained involved with his foundation even after he took office as secretary of the interior, violating an ethics pledge he signed in January 2017. Emails showed that he was still coordinating the land deal as late as August 2017.
The Interior Department’s internal watchdog, the inspector general, was in charge of the land deal investigation until it referred its inquiry to the Department of Justice. According to the Post, that could lead to an investigation that results in criminal charges.
The land deal is one of at least three reviews Zinke is facing from the IG’s office. Another probe is looking into his decision not to grant two Native tribes in Connecticut approval to open a casino. It came after an intense lobbying campaign by Nevada Republicans to block the deal, raising the concern of improper political influence on the decision.
The IG is also investigating whether Zinke improperly used agency funds to pay for travel for his wife.
On top of these reviews, there are several probes into Zinke’s conduct by other government oversight groups, including the US Office of Special Counsel and the House Oversight Committee. In total, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tallied 17 federal investigations around Zinke. It puts him on par with former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt, who was forced to resign this summer after a tsunami of scandals big and small caught up with him.
https://www.vox.com/2018/10/31/18044860 ... cs-justice
While the former Navy SEAL and Montana congressman worked aggressively to promote Trump’s agenda of expanding domestic energy production, administration officials concluded weeks ago that he ranked as the Cabinet member most vulnerable to congressional investigations once Democrats took control of Congress in January.
During his nearly two years in office Zinke came under at least 15 investigations, including inquiries into his connection to a real estate deal involving a company that Interior regulates, whether he bent government rules to allow his wife to ride in government vehicles and allowing a security detail to travel with him on a vacation to Turkey at considerable cost.
Zinke was cleared in several of those investigations, and chose to attack his critics rather adopt a more chastened tone. Late last month he accused Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) — who had called on Zinke to step down and is poised to take over the committee that oversees Interior in January — a drunk.
“It’s hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle,” Zinke wrote from his official Twitter account on Nov. 30.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national ... 642e3f4e17
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