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Lisa Rein
Reporter covering federal agencies and government management in the Trump administration
Interior Ministry officials said on Thursday that they had not approved the hiring of a political figure as the agency's acting gendarme, describing the move as Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson. , "false information to 100%".
The retreat on Suzanne Israel Tufts' move two days after her discovery by a large number of people has deepened the questions about why she was chosen to head the office of the Inspector General of the Interior, who is conducting at least four investigations on Secretary Ryan Zinke. Last week, investigators issued two subpoenas to documents related to investigations, according to two people close to the case who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak in public.
The Inspector General of the Interior was furious when the office sent its latest report to Capitol Hill, examining Zinke's trip and that of his wife, Lola. The bureau concluded that staff of the ministry's prosecutor's office "allowed Lolita Zinke and others to board government vehicles with Secretary Zinke," despite the fact that the interior policy prohibited this. convenient. Zinke also confirmed to the investigators that "her staff had investigated the consequences of making her a volunteer," and other staff expressed concern that this could be seen as a way to cover her travel expenses.
Zinke "denied that it was an effort to bypass the obligation to repay the DOI for his trip," the report says.
The administration's critics said the report, which also revealed that taxpayers had disbursed $ 25,000 to send an unarmed security detachment with the Zink during their holiday in Turkey last summer, was documenting a breach of public trust.
"This report shows Zinke's stubborn determination to use his office for personal purposes, even going as far as telling the best interior lawyer to lie to the public to justify his wife's trip," he said. said Jen Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. , a claim group. "Secretary Zinke owes the American people an apology – and a refund."
Senior White House officials said on Thursday that they had not been informed of the proposed transfer of Tufts, a Queens lawyer who had worked for President Trump's campaign and who was deputy secretary of the HUD for the administration since December.
"Ms. Tufts is not employed by the department and no decision has been made to transfer her inside," agency press secretary Heather Swift said in a statement released on Thursday.
And in a striking public reprimand against another cabinet firm headed by a close friend of Zinke, Swift wrote that HUD "sent an email containing 100% false information". She said that Inspector General Mary Kendall, who has led the office for nine years, is still in office.
In an email Friday with the subject line "A fond farewell," writes Carson, "it's with mixed emotions that I announce that Suzanne Israel Tufts, our assistant secretary at the Administration, decided to leave the HUD to become Acting Inspector General at the Department of the Interior. "
"I am extremely grateful to Suzanne for her service with HUD and I am confident that she will fully realize her new role," added Carson.
Mr. Swift said that Mr. Tufts had been introduced to White House officials by the White House "as a potential candidate" for a position at the Inspector General's office. Swift did not say what position. "At the end of the day, he was not offered a job at Interior."
HUD officials did not respond to a request for comment. Tufts could not be reached.
This flip-flop was created as a result of increasing criticism from Capitol Hill lawmakers and watchdog groups about what appeared to be an unorthodox arrangement between agencies to appoint a policy maker to oversee Kendall. Former President Barack Obama appointed him to the post of Inspector General, but the Senate never voted. Tufts, on the other hand, is a former consultant with no experience as an investigator and who reportedly headed one of the government's most active inspector general offices.
Kendall is currently conducting at least four investigations into Zinke's conduct, including his involvement in a real estate transaction in Montana and his activities related to the demand for a new casino to be opened by two Connecticut tribes.
In an interview Thursday, Assistant Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt said that he had developed good working relationships with Kendall, but that department heads were looking for someone whom the president could appoint for to sit on a permanent basis.
"Mary would agree that it would be good for the Inspector General to be a person appointed to the presidency and confirmed by the Senate," Bernhardt said. "I think she would agree with us that the post has been vacant since [former Inspector General Earl] Devaney left for almost a decade. It's not good, because that's not how we manage the country. "
Tufts' appointment, announced last Friday to HUD staff by Carson, was revealed this week by reports in the Washington Post and other media. White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel issues, said the decision surprised them.
Interior officials refused until Thursday to answer questions about hiring Tufts, saying the job had been vacant for nearly 10 years and any announcement of a Senate appointment would come from the White House.
Although presidents have the right to engage and inspect inspectors general, the Inspector General Act of 1978 provides that candidates must be selected "without distinction of political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity and demonstrated ability in accounting, auditing, financial analysis and law ". , management analysis, public administration or surveys. "
Michael Bromwich, Inspector General of the Department of Justice from 1994 to 1999 and Chief of the Office of Ocean Energy Management of the Interior from 2010 to 2011, described the recruitment of Tufts as "very unusual".
"The law states that only among those appointed to power, it is a non-partisan position that must be permanently filled by people with the proper background," Bromwich said. "It's a real violation of the protocol to make believe that the only qualified person is a political allegiance to the Trump administration."
In addition to having a law degree, it is unclear what aspect of Tufts's background qualifies her for the position of Inspector General of the Interior. Her curriculum vitae, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the American Defense Group Oversight, shows that she volunteered for "Trump-Pence 2017" by participating in training and deployment of lawyers in the field.
Tufts wrote that she was working with the Republican National Lawyers Association on behalf of the Trump-Pence campaign in Philadelphia and in the state of New York. In addition, according to her curriculum vitae, she was "responsible for the recruitment and training of 20% of the lawyers sent to the field".
Representative Raul Grijalva (Arizona), the most democratic member of the Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives, questioned why the administration changed the game when Tufts was appointed.
"What is his job there? If they try to blame their latest scandal and go back while it's still time, they should just say it. Anyway, no one buys this explanation and we will not stop asking for answers. "
Tracy Jan and Robert O'Harrow contributed to this report.
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