Probe sought of Arizona housing permit

WASHINGTON — Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday asked the Justice Department to investigate whether a Trump administration Interior secretary engaged in possible criminal conduct while helping an Arizona developer get a crucial permit for a housing project.

The criminal referral says David Bernhardt pushed for approval of the project by developer Michael Ingram, a Republican donor and supporter of former President Donald Trump, despite a federal wildlife official’s finding that it would threaten habitats for imperiled species.

Bernhardt led the agency from 2019 to 2021. In 2017, he was the No. 2 official at the department when the Fish and Wildlife Service, an Interior Department agency, reversed its opposition to the Villages at Vigneto, the proposed 28,000-home development in southern Arizona, and allowed it to move forward.

Democrat Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Katie Porter of California made the referral in a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. They said their committee has conducted an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 2017 decision.

A high-ranking Interior official had said issuance of a Clean Water Act permit for the project could harm endangered species or critical habitat in the region, which is home to the southwestern willow flycatcher, yellow-billed cuckoo and northern Mexican garter snake.

In their referral, Democrats say Ingram met with Bernhardt in August 2017, two weeks before a Fish and Wildlife official received the phone call directing him to reverse the decision blocking the project. The meeting was not disclosed in Bernhardt’s public calendar or travel documents.

Two months later, Ingram made a $10,000 donation to the Trump Victory Fund. The permit was approved later that month.

“Evidence strongly suggests the decision was the result of a quid-pro-quo between Vigneto’s developer, Michael Ingram, and senior level officials in the Trump administration,” including Bernhardt, who was then the deputy Interior secretary, the Democrats wrote.