Ryan Zinke “misused his position” and “failed to abide by his ethics obligations” while serving as Donald Trump’s Interior Department secretary, according to a report from the agency’s inspector general. The watchdog conducted an investigation into Zinke’s conduct in response to allegations that Zinke was heavily involved in a land development project in his hometown while serving as the head of the Interior Department, and that he negotiated with developers who could have benefitted from his official position, including an executive from Halliburton. He continued to engage in real estate negotiations on behalf of a family foundation, despite having “represented that he had resigned [from the foundation] upon appointment” as Interior Department secretary, the investigation found. Between August 2017 and July 2018, he corresponded with developers 64 times to discuss details of the project, and held a meeting with them at the agency’s headquarters. Investigators also found that he used some staffers to perform tasks related to the project, which had nothing to do with the Interior Department’s official business. But ultimately Zinke was not found to have violated conflict-of-interest rules, since his side gig related to a private business deal and no evidence was found to prove he “took any official action” to benefit the developers.
