Smart move: With Democrat led inquisition looming president Trump announced end of scandal-ridden tenure of Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, who will leave in the new year

In a move that felt like it was designed to reduce the potential of further inquests into his administration, President Donald Trump, Saturday announced the imminent departure of his troubled Secretary of the Interior.
Ryan Zinke will be leaving the administration by the end of the year, President Donald Trump has confirmed.
Ironically while tweeting that a replacement would be announced next week, Trump simultaneously praised Zinke for having ‘accomplished much during his tenure’.
The President’s tweets continued an hour later writing: ‘Never in the history of our Country has the ‘press’ been more dishonest than it is today. Stories that should be good, are bad. Stories that should be bad, are horrible.
‘Many stories, like with the REAL story on Russia, Clinton & the DNC, seldom get reported. Too bad!’
Zinke is facing federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest.
His is just the latest high profile departures, following the removal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.  – A virtual shakeup of the Trump cabinet since the chastening midterms.
The Cabinet post requires Senate confirmation. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will be leaving the administration by the end of the year – Trump tweets

  Zinke, a former Republican congressman from Montana, is leaving weeks before Democrats take control of the House, a shift in power that promised to intensify probes into his conduct.
Zinke played a leading part in Trump’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations and promote domestic energy development.
Democrats angrily called for his resignation, including one congressman whose op-ed on the subject drew an extraordinary rebuke from Zinke, who accused the Arizona Democrat of drunkenness and using taxpayer money to cover up inappropriate behavior
Zinke sent his tweet after Rep. Raul Grijalva wrote an opinion column, published in USA Today last month, saying that Zinke must resign because of what Grijalva called ‘ethical and managerial failings.’
‘It’s hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle,’ Zinke tweeted in response.

Staunching the hermorrage: Trump [center], seen with Zinke [third left], tweeted on Saturday that the secretary ‘accomplished much during his tenure’ and that a replacement would be announced next week

Diversion? Shortly after announcing Zinke’s departure, Trump’s tweets went after the press: ‘Never in the history of our Country has the ‘press’ been more dishonest than it is today. Stories that should be good, are bad. Stories that should be bad, are horrible’. 

Zinke continued: ‘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.’

The tweet also included the hashtag #TuneInnForMore, a reference to a legendary Washington, D.C., dive bar frequented by Grijalva, who was reportedly inside the bar when he read Zinke’s tweet.

During his tenure, Zinke increasingly opened up public lands for oil, mineral and gas exploration.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke [center], blamed California’s recent wildfires on ‘radical environmental groups’ for bringing lawsuits to stop land management practices such as forest thinning

His use of expensive flights and other expenditures as secretary of the interior came under scrutiny in September 2017, when if was revealed that he chartered a private jet belonging to an oil industry executive to travel home from an event in Las Vegas.
The private jet cost taxpayers $12,375, while commercial flights would have started at around $300.
The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector General found that the event in Las Vegas, a speech at the NHL Golden Knights, did not appear to be an official government event because Zinke did not discuss the Interior Department or his role as secretary.
The OIG referred the case to the Justice Department for investigation.
Former Navy SEAL, Zinke left service in 2008 after 22 years with the rank of commander. A first term congressman, he represented Montana’s at-large district from 2015 to 2017.

Deputy Secretary of Department of Interior David Bernhardt listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House

Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, a former oil and gas lobbyist who has played a key role in many regulatory rollbacks during Zinke’s time as agency chief, is expected to step in as acting secertary, in the interim.

Addressing his departure Zinke in a statement posted to Twitter, said he is “extremely proud of all the good work” he and Trump accomplished but “cannot justify spending thousands of dollars defending myself and my family against false allegations.”
“It is better for the President and Interior to focus on accomplishments rather than fictitious allegations,” he added.

Zinke had cast himself as a champion of public lands and a conservationist in the mold of President Theodore Roosevelt. – Announcing  Zinke, one of his early supporters, to lead the Interior Department, Trump said the former Navy SEAL would identify ways to “safely and responsibly” develop America’s natural resources and play a key role in doing away with “bad regulations.”
While he initially enjoyed some support from Democrats and environmentalists, many quickly turned on him as he championed the cause of fossil fuel interests, embraced sweeping budget cuts that his boss proposed, and prioritized Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda over habitat and resource conservation.
In the end environmental groups applauded Zinke leaving.
“Ryan Zinke will go down as the most anti-conservation Interior secretary in our nation’s history,” Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Colorado-based conservation group Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement.