An internal watchdog for the Interior Department released a report Wednesday revealing repeated lapses of ethical behavior by Ryan Zinke, the department’s former secretary under Donald Trump.
Zinke broke federal ethics rules on more than one occasion by participating in real estate negotiations with developers, as well as with the chairman of energy behemoth Halliburton, according to the report. The communications pertained to a commercial and residential development in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana, that used land from the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation, which Zinke and others established in 2007. Zinke continued to take part in these negotiations, according to investigators, even after telling federal officials he would resign from the foundation.
Zinke also lied to an Interior Department ethics official when questioned about his role in the…
