Comments by "" (@DavidJ222) on "Interior Secretary Zinke leaving Trump administration at end of year" video.

  1. What took so long? This is the same clown that blocked rush hour DC traffic because he wanted to ride a horse into work for his 1st day on the job. That should have been everyone's first sign that this guy was #1, an A-hole, and 2nd, he was going to be a serious problem.
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  2. Ryan Zinke, another one of Trump's " very best people" who is facing an ethics probe over land dealings, insisted a month ago that he still has Trump’s full support. While Zinke was in CA touring the deadly Camp Fire damage in Paradise with Gov. Brown, He told The Sacramento Bee he has no recollection of meeting in 2017 with wealthy Sacramento land baron Angelo Tsakopoulos, as first reported by the Washington Post. Zinke is being investigated on multiple fronts. In what is considered the most serious matter, the Interior Department’s acting inspector general has referred to the DoJ, an investigation into whether Zinke acted improperly in connection with a land deal in Whitefish, Mont., with the head of oil-services conglomerate HALLIBURTON. As secretary, Zinke oversees oil and gas drilling operations on federal lands. In the interview with The Sacramento Bee, Zinke said: "I talk to the president, he understands. These are vicious attacks.”  Zinke said the president backs him “100 percent.” The main probe, centers on Zinke’s involvement with a Montana land deal backed by David Lesar, the chair of Halliburton, an oil field services company. A foundation established by Zinke and run by his wife, Lolita Zinke, owns land in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana. Lesar’s developer is planning to build on some of the land, Politico reported this summer. The proposed hotel and retail stores that the developer wants to build in Whitefish also stand to boost property values in a nearby parcel of land owned by the Zinkes. As an oil field service firm, Halliburton has direct and indirect business involving the Interior Department, which manages mining and drilling rights on federal lands. Zinke remained involved with his foundation even after he took office as secretary of the interior, violating an ethics pledge he signed in Jan 2017. Emails showed that he was still coordinating the land deal as late as August 2017. The investigation, now in the hands of the DoJ, could result in criminal charges. BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!!!  The IG is also investigating whether Zinke improperly used agency funds to pay for travel for his wife. There are several other probes into Zinke’s conduct by other government oversight groups, including the US Office of Special Counsel and the House Oversight Committee. In total, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington tallied 17 federal investigations around Zinke. It puts him on par with Scott Pruitt, who was forced to resign after a tsunami of scandals caught up with him. Even Zinke’s aboveboard actions are just as alarming. Zinke has presided over the largest rollback of federal land protections in US history, approved new development in wilderness areas, and opened up NEARLY ALL, US coastal waters to offshore drilling.
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