"Interior Department ethics honcho Scott de la Vega needed to restore order when he took office in April 2018.
Entering what he called the "land of Zinke," after the freewheeling then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, de la Vega told investigators last year he quickly identified the importance of "dramatically" improving the office meant to steer officials straight.
"Honestly, from having talked to staffers here and everything, I think it was a little bit of the Wild West when it came to ethics compliance at the time," de la Vega told two investigators from Interior's Office of Inspector General in a June 11, 2019, interview.
E&E News obtained a transcript of de la Vega's 35-minute interview, along with other previously undisclosed documents relating to an IG investigation of current Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, under the Freedom of Information Act."
Michael Doyle and Kevin Bogardus report for Greenwire April 16, 2020.
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