Ex-Interior secretary Zinke lied to investigators in casino case, watchdog finds

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Ex-Interior secretary Zinke lied to investigators in casino case, watchdog finds

The Interior Department’s inspector general detailed Zinke and his chief of staff’s attempts to mislead federal officials.

By Lisa Rein and Anna Phillips
August 24, 2022 at 1:48 p.m. EDT

Former Interior secretary Ryan Zinke, the leading contender to win a new House seat representing Montana this fall, lied to investigators several times about conversations he had with federal officials, lawmakers and lobbyists about a petition by two Indian tribes to operate a casino in New England, the department’s watchdog said in a report released Wednesday. (1)

Investigators with Inspector General Mark Greenblatt’s office concluded that when questioned about his talks with Interior attorneys and others outside the department, Zinke and his then chief of staff failed to comply with their “duty of candor” as public officials to tell the truth, the report said. ... “We found that both Secretary Zinke and the [chief of staff] made statements that presented an inaccurate version of the circumstances in which [the Interior Department] made key decisions,” the report said. “As a result, we concluded that Secretary Zinke and the [chief of staff] did not comply with their duty of candor when questioned.”

{snip}

The watchdog began its investigation in 2017 to determine whether Zinke had been improperly influenced by Nevada Republicans and MGM Resorts International, a competitor that opposed the planned casino. The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes wanted to open a gambling facility in East Windsor, Conn., a request that required federal approval. Zinke neither granted nor denied the petition; instead, he sent it back to the tribes. His action became the subject of intense scrutiny at Interior and the White House during President Donald Trump’s first months in office.

Over the course of the investigation, the inspector general’s office shifted its focus from the decision in the casino case to the truthfulness of Zinke and his chief of staff’s statements. .... According to the report, Zinke told investigators that he based his decision on the recommendation of attorneys in Interior’s solicitor’s office. But the report found the evidence contradicted this claim. Interior attorneys denied to investigators that they spoke with Zinke, gave him advice or approved his decision not to take a position on the petition. And people Zinke denied meeting with said they had regular contact with him to press him to deny the tribes’ application, according to emails and other documents obtained by investigators.

{snip}

By Lisa Rein
Lisa Rein covers federal agencies and the management of government in the Biden administration. At The Washington Post, she has written about the federal workforce; state politics and government in Annapolis, and in Richmond; local government in Fairfax County, Va.; and the redevelopment of Washington and its neighborhoods. Twitter https://twitter.com/Reinlwapo

By Anna Phillips
Anna Phillips is a national reporter for the Washington Post, focusing on the Biden administration's efforts to tackle climate change. She previously covered environmental policy for the Los Angeles Times and was a courts and local government reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. Twitter https://twitter.com/annamphillips

(1) https://www.doioig.gov/reports/investigation/former-secretary-and-chief-staff-did-not-comply-their-duty-candor

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/08/24/ryan-zinke-misled-investigators-watchdog-report/

[Pas-de-Calais]

1. Shocked I am (sarcasm to the nth degree)

[machoneman]

2. But of course he lied: he's a R-E-P-U-B-L-I-C-A-N!

[luvallpeeps]

3. The best people.

This is the ego maniac who had to have a flag raised for him when he showed up to a building!
https://time.com/4980898/ryan-zinke-interior-department-flag-ritual-donald-trump/ 😫🏴‍☠️

[bringthePaine]

4. couldn't stomach that smug sleazebag from the jump! hope he gets the max

[2naSalit]

5. And he's running for our recently...

reinstated second House seat. Please lock him up so he can't serve! Maybe he won't win.

[mjvpi]

14. He's the best that the Republicans in our state can put forward.

That says so much.

[2naSalit]

15. Yes it does.

I mean, I moved here from a long spell in Idaho because Montana was a purple state. Now it's looking more like Idaho all the time and that's daunting because, look at Idaho right now with their Bundy problem, for starters.

It just makes me want to scream.

[Stuart G]

6. Another one who is/was absolutely sure...."HE WAS/IS GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT."

With the new boss, the game has changed, and the rules have also been changed. .............

That is the clue, from Mr. Stu.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

7. It's okay though cause IQ45 crossed out the 'duty of candor' regulations

with his Sharpie.

[4Q2u2]

8. He is Retired Naval Officer

So he is also supposed to conduct himself as an "Officer and a Gentleman" and can be Court Martialed for lying. UCMJ Art. 133.
Take his pay and benefits.

[2naSalit]

16. He's already filthy rich...

And I mean filthy, so he can do without further bilking the taxpayers. Any medals should be revoked as well.

These people need to be identified as outcasts, despised as they have despised others, they have no redeeming quality or value to any other life on the planet.

[chowder66]

9. What else did he lie about?

If he lied on this surely he lied about other matters as well.

[2naSalit]

17. A whole bunch.

He is accused of several dirty land deals in the state, he was our House Rep for a while too. He hasn't sitting idle while out of office, either. I suspect he's been collaborating with the robber barons in the state's top offices right now.

The sooner he falls of the planet, the better.

[bahboo]

10. and the consequences will be....

[Mr. Ected]

11. Please let's not give him Candidate's Immunity

You know, the unwritten rule at the DOJ that says that they will steer clear of indicting an alleged felon because he or she realized that permanently ensconcing yourself in a political office means you're untouchable.

With this rash of Republicans eager to mimic their putative leader by doing the crime and avoiding the time by calling it political persecution, it's high time we let them know that past misdeeds will be adjudicated without regard to your calendar and whether you're planning on running for office.

Justice matters.

[2naSalit]

18. +1

Sadly, our state government has been taken over, almost completely, by the runpists so until the feds come for him, he's living the high life.

[Haggis 4 Breakfast]

12. If you read the entire report,

It is a laundry list of offensive, arrogant, entitled,bullying, elitist and obnoxious behavior. He lied about being cozy with lobbyists and even cozier with another elected official who was vehemently opposed to the Mohegan Nation from obtaining a casino license. Then he lied about all of that. Under oath. Multiple times.

Beneath contempt. His service record in not all that impressive either.

[usaf-vet]

13. The short version they were caught being common republican grifters. Enriching themselves with zeal.

[2naSalit]

19. The short caption...

Under his portrait.

[Novara]

20. So he lied. He's a republican. That's to be expected. But is there a criminal charge here?

Looks like the answer is no:

The inspector general referred the matter to the Justice Department in 2018 for possible criminal investigation. But the department waited for 2½ years to make a decision. The delay effectively tied the inspector general’s hands, preventing the office from making its findings public. Under Biden, the department reviewed the case for another six months before formally declining it. Wednesday’s report was issued almost a year later.

In early 2019, Zinke’s successor, David Bernhardt, approved the tribes’ petition to build an off-reservation casino in Connecticut, ending what was likely to be a long legal battle.

But of course there's more:

Wednesday’s report comes six months after Greenblatt’s office accused Zinke of also lying about his role in negotiations over a land deal in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont. That investigation found that Zinke had violated his duty of candor when he told a federal ethics official that his involvement in the deal was minimal. He had claimed his meeting with the project’s developers at Interior Department headquarters was “purely social.”

Email and text message exchanges obtained by the watchdog told a different story.

They showed that Zinke had communicated with the developers 64 times to discuss the project’s design, the use of his foundation’s land as a parking lot, and his interest in operating a brewery on the site. Investigators found that Zinke broke federal ethics rules repeatedly by continuing to represent his family’s foundation in the negotiations for nearly a year. This violated an ethics agreement in which he committed not to do any work on the foundation’s behalf after he joined the Trump administration.

The report also found that Zinke had misused his official position by directing some of his staff to arrange a meeting with the developers and print documents related to the project. Federal officials are generally prohibited from assigning their employees tasks related to their private business.

He'll get away with all of it.