August 25, 2022

I know most of you will be shocked, but another former Trump official was just caught lying to investigators. Ryan Zinke is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Montana's 1st Congressional District, and he also served as Former President Donald Trump's Interior Secretary. He proved himself to be the swampiest of swamp creatures.

According to a report, Zinke lied to investigators several times about conversations he had with federal officials, lawmakers, and lobbyists regarding a petition by two Native Indian tribes to operate a casino in New England. That's a big no-no.

Via The Washington Post:

Investigators with Inspector General Mark Greenblatt's office concluded that when questioned about his talks with Interior attorneys and others outside the department, Zinke and his then chief of staff failed to comply with their "duty of candor" as public officials to tell the truth, the report said.

"We found that both Secretary Zinke and the [chief of staff] made statements that presented an inaccurate version of the circumstances in which [the Interior Department] made key decisions," the report states. "As a result, we concluded that Secretary Zinke and the [chief of staff] did not comply with their duty of candor when questioned."

Investigators said that they found that Zinke and his chief of staff "made statements to OIG investigators with the overall intent to mislead them."

Zinke's people questioned the report's timing, but doing swampy things is nothing new for the former Trump official.

From PBS in February:

Former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement, according to a report from federal investigators released Wednesday.

You don't say. Zinke isn't very sure about where he lives, either. And now we find that he blocked Native American tribes from opening a casino. That's quite a resume of being a shitty person, Ryan.

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