U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks during the Western Conservation and Hunting Expo in Salt Lake City, Utah, Feb. 9, 2018 | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (AP) — An internal watchdog has cleared Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of wrongdoing following a complaint that he redrew the boundaries of a national monument in Utah to benefit a former state lawmaker and political ally.
In this file photo, Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, is shown on the House floor at the Utah State Capitol, in Salt Lake City, Feb. 6, 2018 | Associated Press photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News
The Interior Department’s office of inspector general says it found no evidence that Zinke gave former state Rep. Mike Noel preferential treatment in shrinking the boundaries of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Noel, who publicly pushed for the monument to be redrawn, owns land near the monument site, including a 40-acre parcel that was surrounded by the monument but now is outside its boundaries.
The report says investigators found no evidence that Zinke or other department officials knew of Noel’s financial interest in the revised boundaries or gave him preferential treatment.
Noel, a Republican, was on stage in Salt Lake City with President Donald Trump last December when Trump announced he was shrinking Grand Staircase and another Utah monument, Bears Ears National Monument.
The monuments were among four that Trump targeted for cutbacks to reverse what Trump calls overreach by Democratic presidents to protect federally controlled land. The other two monuments, in Oregon and Nevada, remain intact despite Trump’s promise to shrink them.
A spokeswoman for Zinke told the AP that the report “shows exactly what the secretary’s office has known all along – that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws.”
The report “is also the latest example of political opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IG’s office,” spokeswoman Heather Swift said in a statement.
Zinke faces other investigations, including one centered on a Montana land deal involving a foundation he created and the chairman of energy giant Halliburton, which does significant business with the Interior Department.
Investigators also are reviewing Zinke’s decision to block two tribes from opening a casino in Connecticut and a complaint that he reassigned a former Interior official in retaliation for criticizing Zinke.
At least complaint has been referred to the Justice Department.
Zinke has denied wrongdoing and told the AP this month that he’s “100 percent confident” he will be cleared of all ethics allegations.
Trump has said he does not plan to fire Zinke, but said he would “look into any complaints.”
Written by MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press.
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