'In coordination with the opposition': Zinke blames ouster on politicized inspector general

Ryan Zinke says he came to the Interior Department as a reasonable guy, but it became increasingly clear Washington was an unreasonable world.

By the time Zinke, a native Montanan, resigned his post as interior secretary at the end of 2018, he was facing at least six different investigations into allegations of ethical misconduct and other violations. Environmentalists and Democratic lawmakers said Zinke was in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry, the force behind several decisions that would expand energy development on public lands.