Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has been cleared of several potential violations of federal rules governing political activity by government officials.
A May 31 letter obtained by the Associated Press Tuesday from the Office of Special Counsel exonerated Zinke of violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits Cabinet officials from participating in political activities.
Zinke’s spokeswoman, Heather Swift, was quick to point out that the secretary has always worked with ethics professionals to follow the law.
“As the Inspector General pointed out in the report earlier this year, the secretary always works with career ethics professionals and has followed all laws, rules, and regulations related to his travel,” Swift wrote in an email to the Washington Examiner.
One of the incidents he was cleared of was a speech he made last June to the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team.
Bill Foley, the team’s owner, had contributed to Zinke’s Republican congressional campaigns as well as to President Trump’s inauguration. The speech, as well as the flights on charter planes Zinke took to reach the venues, has been used by Democrats and groups trying to get him to resign.
Zinke addressed the team as interior secretary and spoke on the topics of leadership and the importance of teamwork, according to the special counsel. The letter said there was no evidence that his remarks were political in nature.
“Your activity did not violate the Hatch Act because you were not the impetus for those higher contributions,” the special counsel’s office said in its letter to Zinke.
The special counsel also cleared Zinke for a trip he made in March 2017 to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he met with political donors. It also cleared him of seven trips he took from March 2017 to October 2017 that appeared to mix official business with politics.
The Interior Department was reimbursed for the political elements of each of the trips after it requested it be paid back, the special counsel said in the letter.
