ETHICS/INTERIOR/RYAN ZINKE: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s wife has frustrated department staffers by saddling them with extra work when she traveled with her husband on official business, according to new records that a liberal watchdog group says uncover the potential misuse of government resources.
The records document Lola Zinke’s last-minute requests to join high-level dinners and additions to the guest list for a conservative group’s event near the couple’s home in Southern California earlier this year. The Western Values Project filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit last month to force Interior to release more than 100 pages of documents related to Lola Zinke’s trips with her husband and interactions with Interior staff.
Shared first with POLITICO, the documents shed new light on the outsize profile Lola Zinke has established compared with the typical Cabinet secretary’s spouse, including her dictating which people to invite to a town hall hosted by the conservative Young America’s Foundation for her husband…
While the department says Lola Zinke paid her own way, the records show Interior used staff time to coordinate some of her activities while traveling with her husband. And the trips gave her access to high-level politicians and GOP activists and donors who could benefit her as a political operator in her own right.”
-Ben Lefebvre, “‘UGH!’: Zinke’s wife’s travel caused headaches for Interior staff,” Politico, Nov. 20, 2017 06:12pm