Sources: Justice Department looks at Zinke for possible lie

Ryan Zinke visits Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo., in July 2017 as interior secretary. Zinke, who departed his post Wednesday, is facing two inspector general inquiries.
Ryan Zinke visits Rocky Mountain National Park, Colo., in July 2017 as interior secretary. Zinke, who departed his post Wednesday, is facing two inspector general inquiries.

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's public-integrity section is examining whether newly departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his agency's inspector-general investigators, according to three people familiar with the matter, a potential criminal violation that would exacerbate Zinke's legal woes.

Zinke, who left President Donald Trump's administration Wednesday, was facing two inspector-general inquiries tied to his real estate dealings in his home state of Montana and his involvement in reviewing a proposed casino project by American Indian tribes in Connecticut. In the course of that work, inspector-general investigators came to believe Zinke had lied to them, and they referred the matter to the Justice Department to consider whether any laws were violated, the people familiar with the matter said.

The department's public-integrity section has since been exploring the case, the people familiar with the matter said. The extent of its work is unclear, though the inspector general had questioned witnesses in an apparent attempt to scrutinize Zinke's account, one of the people said.

A spokesman for Zinke said Zinke voluntarily participated in two inspector-general interviews about the Connecticut tribal matter and "to the best of his knowledge answered all questions truthfully." The spokesman said Zinke had not been contacted by the Justice Department and that disclosures about the matter violated inspector general and Justice Department protocols.

On Wednesday, Zinke wrote a farewell letter to staff members and posted a handwritten note on Twitter. Neither mentioned the ethics allegations that prompted his departure.

"When I was a Boy Scout, I was taught to leave the campsite better than I found it," he wrote Interior's 70,000 employees. "I am confident that over the last 2 years, we have done that together for our public lands and the Department of the Interior."

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

The Justice Department's interest in the matter signals prosecutors felt Zinke's account was suspect and warranted further scrutiny. Department officials have not yet decided, though, whether he should face charges, people familiar with the matter said.

The crime of making false statements can be difficult to prove because it requires investigators to show a person "knowingly and willfully" lied, rather than simply misstated a fact. Zinke's resignation, too, could make him a less appealing target for prosecutors.

Several former Trump advisers have pleaded guilty to lying to investigators or to Congress, including his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and a former campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos.

Zinke, who submitted his resignation last month, had faced intense pressure to step down because of the investigations into his conduct, though Trump had soured on him for other reasons, too, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In particular, this person said, Trump was upset Zinke would not challenge Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., in last year's election and over how Zinke handled the administration's plan to expand offshore drilling.

Last January, Zinke flew to Florida and, without consulting the White House, announced in a news conference with then-Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., that the Interior Department would exempt the state from offshore drilling. The move raised ethics questions along with an outcry from other governors whose coastal states were affected by the plan.

It was not clear precisely what Zinke is thought to have lied about, but people familiar with the matter said it was not about a land deal Zinke struck with the chairman of oil services giant Halliburton in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont. The Interior Department's inspector general has been looking into that as a possible conflict of interest.

The inspector general has also been exploring Zinke's involvement in a dispute over a bid from two American Indian tribes to operate a casino in East Windsor, Conn.

A Section on 01/04/2019

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