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Ryan Zinke's Interior Department: Ethics Violations, Developer Deals, Land Monuments Gutted

Zinke used government aircraft for personal travel, including a trip to attend a hockey game and a flight to meet a donor. He pursued a real estate development near his Montana property with a company connected to Halliburton CEO David Lesar — while Halliburton had business before the Interior Department. He intervened in tribal gaming compacts in Connecticut to benefit a political donor's competing casino operation. He reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by nearly half — the largest rollback of protected federal land in U.S. history. He resigned in December 2018; the DOJ referred his conduct for further investigation.

Record summary

Grade

Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power

Executive actions that exceed constitutional authority, circumvent statutory constraints, or weaponize government institutions for political ends. Scale and definitions

Status
Concluded
Incident date
Record updated
Location
Washington, D.C. / Montana / Utah
Category
Corruption & Self-Dealing
Legal posture
Reported
War-crime classification
Enabling conduct
Verification
Independently verified
ICC relevance
No
Sources
4 cited
Stable ID
trump-ryan-zinke-interior-department-corruption
Victims
Native American tribes whose sacred lands were stripped of monument protection; American public whose federal lands were opened to extractive industry; taxpayers billed for personal government aircraft travel
Alleged responsible parties
  • Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior March 2017 — January 2019— Department of the Interior
  • Donald Trump, Appointed Zinke; issued executive order directing monument reductions— White House

Key points

  • Zinke used government aircraft for personal travel on multiple occasions, including a $12,000 chartered flight on a private plane owned by oil company executives and a trip that included time at a hockey camp where he spoke
  • Zinke pursued a real estate development in Whitefish, Montana involving a foundation co-chaired by David Lesar, CEO of Halliburton — which has billions in government contracts and business before the Interior Department — while that project was active
  • Zinke intervened in 2017 to deny the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes in Connecticut an amended gaming compact, a decision that effectively benefited competing interests — the intervention was investigated as potentially relating to political donations to the Republican Party
  • Zinke oversaw the largest reduction of national monument protections in U.S. history: Bears Ears National Monument was reduced by 85%, from 1.35 million acres to 201,876 acres; Grand Staircase-Escalante was reduced by nearly 46%
  • The monument reductions opened previously protected lands to oil, gas, coal, and uranium mining — benefiting extractive industries that had lobbied against monument status
  • Zinke resigned in December 2018; the DOJ's Inspector General referred at least one ethics matter for possible criminal investigation

Overview

Ryan Zinke ran the Department of the Interior as if its public lands were assets to be redistributed to industry donors. He spent less than two years in the job, resigned amid multiple federal investigations, and left behind a record that included the largest rollback of monument protections in American history.

Bears Ears

Bears Ears National Monument was established by President Obama in December 2016 at the request of a coalition of five Native American tribes — the Navajo Nation, Hopi, Ute Mountain Ute, Ute Indian Tribe, and Zuni. The tribes had sought monument status for decades; the 1.35 million acres contain tens of thousands of archaeological sites sacred to their peoples.

Trump, acting on Zinke's recommendation, reduced the monument by 85%. The boundaries of the reduced monument excluded many of the archaeological and sacred sites the tribes had sought to protect. The areas excluded from protection were opened to mining and energy extraction.

Five tribal nations and multiple environmental groups immediately filed suit. The litigation over Bears Ears continued through the Biden and Trump administrations.

The Corruption

Zinke's ethical violations spanned routine (personal use of government aircraft) to structural (pursuing a real estate deal with a Halliburton-connected company while Halliburton had business before his department). The Connecticut gaming intervention — in which he denied a tribal gaming compact in a way that appeared to benefit a donor's competing interests — resulted in a DOJ referral.

He resigned before the investigations concluded. Trump praised his service.

Update log

  1. Updated with resignation.

Sequence of events

  1. Zinke confirmed as Interior Secretary

    Zinke, a former Montana congressman and Navy SEAL, is confirmed 68-31. Conservationists and tribes express concern about his stated plans to open federal lands to energy development.

  2. Trump reduces Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante

    Trump signs proclamations reducing Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and Grand Staircase-Escalante by 46% — the largest reduction of monument protections in U.S. history, following a review ordered by Zinke. Tribes that had fought for Bears Ears immediately file suit.

  3. Connecticut tribal gaming investigation opens

    Reports emerge that Zinke's intervention denying tribal gaming compacts in Connecticut may have been connected to political donations. The Interior Department Inspector General opens an investigation.

  4. Aircraft use investigations

    Multiple Inspector General reviews document Zinke's use of government aircraft for travel that mixed official and personal activities. At least one chartered flight from oil executives is scrutinized.

  5. Zinke resigns amid investigations

    Zinke announces his resignation effective January 2, 2019, citing 'vicious and politically motivated attacks.' At the time of his resignation, the DOJ and multiple Inspector General offices have active or pending reviews of his conduct.

Sources

  1. Ryan Zinke's Complicated Year at Interior: A Trail of Ethics Questions — The New York Times
  2. Interior Secretary Zinke resigns amid federal ethics investigations — The Washington Post
  3. Ryan Zinke's Ethical Record at Interior — ProPublica
  4. Zinke leaves Interior under cloud of ethics questions — The Associated Press

How this record was published

Manually curated This entry was added directly and does not carry an automated audit trail.

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