Scandals Pile Up For Interior Chief Ryan Zinke
For several months, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke managed to fly under the radar, as Democrats and environmental groups focused their attention on the steady drip of ethical lapses coming from Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. With Pruitt now gone, Zinke appears to have taken the reins as the most scandal-plagued member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
Since being sworn in in March 2017, the former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL has proven himself a loyal soldier of Trump’s deregulatory agenda, working to scrap environmental safeguards and boost mining and fossil fuel production. But much like Pruitt, Zinke has been unable to steer clear of negative headlines. He has faced at least 11 formal investigations ― many of them ongoing ― and calls for several others. That’s more than the last four interior secretaries combined, according to an analysis by Colorado-based conservation group Center for Western Priorities.
Aaron Weiss, media director at CWP, told HuffPost that Pruitt was “the best thing Ryan Zinke had going for him.”
“Between his shady business deals and clear abuse of office, Secretary Zinke could soon find himself spending more time responding to investigators than doing his job,” Weiss said via email.
d
= new reply since forum marked as read
