Watchdog: Zinke charter flight approved without full details

WASHINGTON — A $12,000 charter flight by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was reviewed and approved by department ethics officials without complete information, because staff who helped schedule the trip did not provide sufficient details, an internal watchdog said Monday.

A report by Interior’s inspector general said Zinke’s use of a chartered flight after he spoke to a NHL team in Las Vegas “might have been avoided” if Interior employees had worked with the team to accommodate his schedule.

The report said Zinke never mentioned the Interior Department in the June 2017 speech to the Las Vegas Golden Knights. An ethics official said the speech should have been tied to the department’s mission to qualify as an official event.