An office within the Justice Department that investigates corruption of elected and appointed public officials is looking into whether recently departed Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to his department’s inspector general on multiple occasions, according to a report published Thursday.
Zinke faced two inspector general probes for real estate ventures in Montana, a state he formerly represented in Congress, and a casino construction project Native American tribes had been fighting over in Connecticut, according to the Washington Post.
The inspectors referred the issue to Justice officials within the department’s public integrity section in 2018 after suspecting Zinke had lied to them.
If found to have lied to federal officials, he could face criminal charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner in an email Thursday it could not confirm or deny the existence of any investigation.
Zinke’s spokesperson said the former secretary “to the best of his knowledge answered all questions truthfully” when asked about the Connecticut ordeal.
Last year, two tribes, Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan, began fighting over the ability to run the commercial casino, which was to be built off reservation land.
The deal included language that 25 percent of the casino’s slot machine revenue would go to the state of Connecticut.
Both tribes waged a lobbying war and accused Zinke of caving in to pressure from MGM Resorts, which has a casino just over 10 miles away from the forthcoming site, against approving their application.
The project, set to be approved in September, was unexpectedly rejected. Then, in October, the casino appeared to be a possibility but suddenly fell through again.
One tribe claimed “the Department ultimately buckled under undue political pressure” from Nevada Republicans Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei.
[Opinion: Ryan Zinke accomplished much during his short tenure]
