Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had a jaw-droppingly unprofessional response to a USA Today op-ed by Rep. Raúl Grijalva calling for Zinke’s resignation. “As has been widely reported,” Grijalva wrote, “an Interior Department inspector general investigation of Mr. Zinke—one of at least 17 publicly known formal probes of either him or his department since he took office—was recently referred to the Justice Department.”
Grijalva went on to promise further investigations of Zinke once Democrats take control of the House, with himself potentially in line to chair the House Natural Resources Committee.
Zinke responded with a tweet that’s outrageous even in the Trump era. “It’s hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle,” Zinke tweeted. “This is coming from a man who used nearly $50,000 in tax dollars as hush money to cover up his drunken and hostile behavior. He should resign and pay back the taxpayer for the hush money and the tens of thousands of dollars he forced my department to spend investigating unfounded allegations.”
Talk about trying to change the subject! Yes, Grijalva has had issues, including a settlement for inappropriate, though non-sexual, behavior. But for a Cabinet member who has faced—again—17 investigations, to suggest that a member of the minority party on one committee could “force” the Interior Department to spend tens of thousands of dollars investigating unfounded allegations is ridiculous. Zinke faces investigations from the inspector general of his own department, including the one mentioned above that’s been referred to the Justice Department. Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy’s House Oversight Committee has looked into his behavior. He’s been investigated for Hatch Act violations, an investigation that would come from an entirely separate agency. His problems are not happening because Raúl Grijalva is a committee ranking member without subpoena power. His problems are definitely not happening because of Raúl Grijalva’s treatment of his own staff, however problematic that may or may not be.
This is a vicious personal attack intended to deflect and change the subject from the very real substance Grijalva raised. It may work, but if we’re going to get personal, remember that it’s coming from yet another corrupt, grifting Trump administration official.