"Zinke Failed To Disclose Campaign Ties To Speech Host, IG Says"

"Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke failed to disclose relevant information to ethics officials when he traveled to Las Vegas to speak to the Golden Knights hockey team last year, the department’s watchdog reported Monday — including the fact that one of his biggest campaign donors owned the team.

The report by Interior's inspector general also raised questions about whether taxpayers should have been on the hook for a $12,000 charter flight that Zinke took after the speech from Las Vegas to his home state of Montana. Because Zinke's speech did not even mention the Interior Department, the IG said it's unlikely ethics officials would have OK'd it as official business.

"If ethics officials had known Zinke’s speech would have no nexus to the DOI, they likely would not have approved this as an official event, thus eliminating the need for a chartered flight," the report said. "Moreover, had ethics officials been made aware that the Golden Knights’ owner had been a donor to Zinke’s congressional campaign, it might have prompted further review and discussion.""

Ben Lefebvre reports for Politico April 16, 2018.

SEE ALSO:

"Ryan Zinke’s Travel Was Proper — With One Exception, Interior Department Investigators Say" (Washington Post)