"Interior Official Met 'Secretly' With Developer On Benson Project"

"The deputy Interior secretary held a secret meeting with the developer of a big Benson subdivision two weeks before a federal underling says he was pressured to reverse his tough stance on the project, CNN reports.

The breakfast meeting was held in August 2017 between then-deputy secretary David Bernhardt, who is now Interior secretary, and Mike Ingram, CEO of Phoenix-based El Dorado Holdings, which proposes to build the 28,000-home Villages at Vigneto in Benson.

The meeting was the first of five between Bernhardt and Ingram during the Trump administration, CNN reported Monday."

Tony Davis reports for the Arizona Daily Star July 9, 2019.

SEE ALSO:

"Whistleblower Says He Was Pressured By Trump Administration To Reverse Environmental Decision" (CNN)

"House Panel Probes Bernhardt On Ariz. Development" (Greenwire $$)

Source: Arizona Daily Star, 07/10/2019