Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is rejecting reports that he is still overseeing a real estate deal between a veterans organization run by his wife and the chairman of global oil services firm Halliburton.
Politico reported Tuesday that Zinke was still involved in the transaction, but Zinke’s spokeswoman, Heather Swift, rejected that report.
“The Politico accusations that the secretary is still a member of the board are easily proven false,” Swift said in a statement to the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. “In accordance with all federal ethics guidelines, the secretary resigned from his position with the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park in March 2017.”
Politico reported that Halliburton Chairman David Lesar on his own, and not on behalf of his company, is trying to buy real estate in Whitefish, Mont. The Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation, which Zinke founded, manages some of that land, and as a result is working with Lesar to facilitate the purchase.
But Swift said Zinke has long since left the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation. She shared three documents showing that Zinke is no longer with the group, including a copy of his formal resignation to the foundation. A letter from the group’s law firm also confirmed he resigned in 2017, and a third document was an annual report sent to the state of Montana showing that Zinke is no longer leading the group.
While Swift dismissed the idea that Zinke is tied to the deal, she did not refute that his family’s involvement in the deal might still constitute a conflict of interest.
Zinke’s wife, Lolita, is president of the foundation, and she is playing a key role in the real estate deal with Lesar. Critics say Zinke’s wife’s involvement is enough to constitute a conflict of interest by enriching the foundation. A microbrewery had been promised to the Zinke family once the deal goes through, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, a veterans group is grilling Zinke’s department over the reported link to Lesar and Halliburton, while a consumer group called on the Department of the Interior’s ethics office Wednesday to open an investigation.
The Vet Voice Foundation says Zinke is placing his personal interests ahead of preserving public lands, while disrespecting veterans.
“This is all a perfect encapsulation of how Ryan Zinke has operated at Interior — being deceitful about intent, and always seeing how he can personally benefit,” said Garett Reppenhagen, Vet Voice Foundation’s western states director.
The nonpartisan veterans group has a history of defending public lands. “He says he has veterans in mind, but just like never developing land that he promised them in Montana, before cashing out on it with Halliburton,” Reppenhagen said.
The oil-services firm Halliburton, once run by former Vice President Dick Cheney, would stand to benefit from Interior Department decisions to open public lands to energy development, say critics. Lesar is planning a major commercial development at a former industrial site near the center of Whitefish, which is Zinke’s hometown.
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizens sent a letter on Wednesday to Interior’s ethics office, asking that it investigate the link between the company and the foundation and if a conflict of interest exists.
“This is the most scandal-ridden administration in history,” said Craig Holman, Public Citizen’s government affairs lobbyist.
“Zinke’s business relationship with the chairman of Halliburton, which could well profit Zinke and the family-run foundation, reflects the troubling trend of self-dealing by government officials seen throughout the Trump administration,” Holman added.
Public Citizen said Halliburton is the largest oil services company in the U.S. and “is under the direct regulatory authority of the Interior Department.” It pointed out that the company “routinely reports lobbying the Interior Department on matters like energy policy and oil and gas exploration.”
Public Citizen does not seem to care whether Zinke resigned from the foundation after becoming secretary. The letter says the “Zinke family’s” involvement in the major real estate deal “raises serious concerns of potential violations of the federal conflicts of interest code.”
