Zinke accused of mixing politics, duties

Interior secretary’s trip to Pa. getting scrutiny

WASHINGTON – Even the local newspaper thought it was odd when Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke stopped briefly last month at a small Pennsylvania town bearing a huge ceremonial check and the promise of millions of dollars to clean up abandoned coal mine lands.

Zinke’s visit to the East Bethlehem fire hall seemed hastily planned and “was baffling — to local residents, the media, and likely, those who planned his appearance,” the Observer-Reporter wrote in an editorial.

“You could call it a news conference, a town hall meeting, a political op,” the paper concluded. “And you could call it something else: fake news.”

Government watchdog groups and at least two congressional Democrats say Zinke’s trip smells of politics and seemed designed to benefit the GOP candidate in a special congressional election that Republicans are in danger of losing on Tuesday.

“It definitely looks fishy,” said Nick Schwellenbach, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight.

What’s more, critics say, the Pennsylvania trip appears to be part of a pattern in which Zinke mixes politics with his official business as a Cabinet secretary.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift rejected assertions that Zinke’s visit was political.

“Basic facts would easily prove this wrong,” she said in a statement. “The department has been distributing AML (Abandoned Mine Land) grants to Pennsylvania and other states for several years. Pennsylvania is the secondlargest recipient and the location was just a few minutes from a project receiving funds.”

Pennsylvania will receive $56 million of the $300 million in grants that Zinke announced will be available to 25 states and three Native American tribes to clean up abandoned mine lands. One of the sites to be reclaimed is about a halfmile from where Zinke spoke.

Regardless, two congressional Democrats —Reps. Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Donald McEachin of Virginia — wrote Wednesday to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and asked for an investigation into whether Zinke’s trip was a violation of the Hatch Act, which restricts federal employees from using their jobs to influence elections.

President Trump won the mostly working-class district by 20 points in 2016, but polls show the congressional race is a toss-up. Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into the contest to help the GOP candidate, Rick Saccone, who has Trump’s backing, against Democrat Conor Lamb.

Zinke’s year in office has been marked by questions about his travel and spending habits and suggestions that he often mixes official business with politics.

“These kinds of issues seem to follow him,” said Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “There are a ton of ethical questions with Ryan Zinke right now.” Among them:

On Feb. 23, the Campaign Legal Center asked the Interior Department’s inspector general to investigate what it called “a concerning pattern” regarding Zinke’s compliance with the legal standards of public service and his stewardship of public funds.

The complaint alleges, among other things, that Zinke scheduled himself to be in the Virgin Islands, reportedly on official business, on March 30, 2017, and while there he possibly violated the Hatch Act. The violation involved appearing at a Republican Party fundraiser and allowing party operatives to charge some attendees extra, partly for the opportunity to get their picture taken with him, the complaint says.

Last Monday, the Bureau of Land Management, which falls under Zinke’s jurisdiction, removed 17,300 acres in Montana from an oil and gas lease auction set for next week. Zinke represented Montana in the House before he was tapped as Interior secretary and is considered a possible candidate for governor in 2020.

In January, Zinke abruptly changed course and announced that Florida would be exempt from the Trump administration’s five-year plan to expand oil and gas exploration off the nation’s shores. Critics blasted the decision as a political stunt intended to benefit Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who is expected to challenge Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson this fall.

Last July, Zinke, who has no role in health care but does have jurisdiction over some energy and land-use issues, called Alaska Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and warned that their state’s standing with the Trump administration might be in jeopardy because Murkowski did not support a GOP bill to repeal Obamacare. The Interior Department’s inspector general dropped an investigation into Zinke’s call after Murkowski and Sullivan declined to be interviewed or provide statements.

Cabinet secretaries and other federal employees appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate are not barred from participating in political activities but must keep those actions separate from official duties.

“These kinds of issues seem to follow him.” Jordan Libowitz Spokesman, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics

Ryan Zinke