ETHICS/INTERIOR/RYAN ZINKE: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $14,000 on government helicopters this summer to take himself and staff to and from official events near Washington, D.C., in order to accommodate his attendance at a swearing-in ceremony for his replacement in Congress and a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence, according to previously undisclosed official travel documents.
The travel logs, released to POLITICO via a Freedom of Information Act request, show Zinke using taxpayer-funded vehicles from the U.S. Park Police to help accommodate his political events schedule…
The former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL is already being investigated by the Interior Department’s inspector general and the independent Office of Special Counsel for his mixing of official travel and political events. Interior earlier this year released records documenting Zinke’s use of charter and military aircraft, including a $12,000 flight from Las Vegas to Montana that allowed him to give a speech for a hockey team owned by a major campaign donor.”
-Ben Lefebvre, “Zinke booked government helicopters to attend D.C. events,” Politico, Dec. 7, 2017 07:06pm