“We note at the outset that an individual is not insulated from a lack of candor finding by claiming ‘not to recall’ events,” the report says. “Given the number of times the issue of the Tribes’ amendment issue was brought before the [chief of staff (COS)], the number of witnesses who recounted communications with and by the COS, and the significance of the issue, we find it implausible that the COS forgot all these interactions and his role in the process.”
Zinke’s attorney, Danny C. Onorato of Schertler Onorato Mead & Sears, said in a statement that Zinke has “cooperated fully” despite the “politically motivated” investigation and maintains that the report is just another “political smear.”
“Secretary Zinke repeatedly told the Inspector General that he was not subject to any influence in that matter because he lacked jurisdiction to act on the application. That should have ended the inquiry,” Onorato added. “Instead, on the eve of an election, the IG has released a misleading and inaccurate report that suggested Secretary Zinke lacked candor in his interview with IG agents. That is wrong.”
Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., who along with Reps. A. Donald McEachin, D-Va., and Jared Huffman, D-Calif., requested in 2018 that the watchdog examine ties between Zinke and another controversial project in Montana, said in a statement that the report is “another entry into the long litany of former Secretary Zinke’s lies and coverups.”
“The report labels this as ‘lack of candor’, but the plain language word for it is ‘lying,’” Grijalva said in a statement. “Zinke’s difficult relationship with the truth was most recently noted when he lied during the investigation into using taxpayer resources for personal gain.”
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