Zinke Out At Interior

Another of un- indicted co- conspirator (Individual-1) Donald "Rump" Trump's "only the best people" is hightailing it out of town with the law in hot pursuit:

Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke submitted his resignation to the White House Saturday, facing intense pressure from the White House amid multiple probes tied to his real estate dealings in Montana and conduct while in office. [snip] 

During his nearly two years in office Zinke came under at least 15 investigations, including inquiries into his connection to a real estate deal involving a company that Interior regulates, whether he bent government rules to allow his wife to ride in government vehicles and allowing a security detail to travel with him on a vacation to Turkey at considerable cost.

Fortunately, Zinke's troubles don't end with his resignation.  The shady real estate deal, in particular, has already been turned over to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution.  Expect the incoming Democratic House to also investigate and make sure he doesn't get off the hook for his misdeeds.

Some selected comments on Twitter:

#RyanZinke accomplished nothing but destruction, suppression of science, denial of climate change, the silencing and intimidation of staff. Another one of your 'best people' proving to be anything but. Your swamp of slithering sycophants won't be fully drained until you resign.

— Lesley Abravanel (@lesleyabravanel) December 15, 2018

The only thing he's accomplished is destroying the legacy that is our public lands. He's polluted the water, endangered our wildlife and destroyed our monuments. Some legacy.

— Mandy M2S (@MandyM2S) December 15, 2018

Trump administration pic.twitter.com/cwAbjuLs5N

— SuperHappyBaby (@SuperHappyTess) December 15, 2018

Or, if you prefer a more gentle exit option:

IN A RELATED STORY: In order to facilitate the Trump administration's historically high turnover rate, a new revolving door is being installed in the West Wing. "Um, we hope a revolving door will allow us to hire and fire and, um, have people resign much faster." ~ Sarah Sanders pic.twitter.com/PXoyJ87QTM

— Chet Powell (@ChetPowell) December 15, 2018

Whitefish-y Contract With Puerto Rico Power Authority Cancelled

The corrupt (allegedly!) boondoggle is officially over:

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority is canceling its controversial $300 million contract with Whitefish Energy Holdings to restore the island’s power, officials announced Sunday. 

Ricardo Ramos, executive director of PREPA, said he would honor Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló’s request Sunday to terminate the business deal, which has raised questions from several lawmakers and government agencies. 

Whitefish, a two-year-old firm based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Montana hometown, had just two full-time employees when Hurricane Maria hit the island more than a month ago.  

Language in the contract ― a full copy is here ― looked like it gave Whitefish a sweetheart deal as the people of Puerto Rico struggle to recover from the devastation of the hurricane. 

For one, the contract, which Whitefish signed with the government-owned PREPA states that, “In no event shall [government bodies] have the right to audit or review the cost and profit elements.” That gave Whitefish wide of discretion and privacy over how it used $300 million in American taxpayer money.

So, does this mean any bribes payments made under the table consultation fees are returned? Will Whitefish investors demand that the contributions they made to the campaign of moron Donald "Rump" Trump be returned? What prison will be housing the people responsible for cutting this deal? Haha kidding.

Unfortunately, the corrupt bungling of this contract by all parties will inevitably mean further delays in getting power restored to roughly 70 percent of our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico. It's a complete outrage that this should be happening but, given the players, not at all surprising.

Ah, The Smell Of Swamp Gas In The Morning!

There seems to be a swampy odor emanating simultaneously from Whitefish, MT, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico:

Puerto Rico has agreed to pay a reported $300 million for the restoration of its power grid to a tiny utility company that is primarily financed by a private-equity firm founded and run by a man who contributed large sums of money to President Trump, an investigation conducted by The Daily Beast has found. 

Whitefish Energy Holdings, which had a reported staff of only two full-time employees when Hurricane Maria touched down, appears ill-equipped to handle the daunting task of restoring electricity to Puerto Rico’s more than 3 million residents. 

Much larger utilities are more commonly used following natural disasters on the scale of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island last month. (our emphasis)

Whew! The smell is getting stronger:

... On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Whitefish Chief Executive Officer Andy Techmanski is friends with Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Moreover, Whitefish is located in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Montana. [snip] 

Zinke isn’t the only member of the Trump administration with a connection to the Whitefish contract. In addition to the Colonnettas’ contributions to Trump’s presidential campaign, Kimberly Colonnetta’s Facebook page contains a photo of her with Ben Carson, Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development. Another photo appears to show Kimberly Colonnetta with Trump Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Both photos were posted the week of Trump’s inauguration. (our emphasis)

Those are a lot of powerful connections!  Not to be confused with connecting Puerto Ricans to power.

No worries! We've located the cause of the smell:

Luis Vega-Ramos, member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, told The Daily Beast, “Whitefish’s most important expertise or assets seems to have been… having the U.S. secretary of the interior, Ryan Zinke, as their former congressman and current ally and having the wisdom to retain the services of key people close to the governor [of Puerto Rico].”

“Whitefish seems to be nothing more than a glorified middleman to get the real providers of the services, with which PREPA [the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority] could have contracted directly,” Vega-Ramos said. “It is a cozy sweetheart deal in which Whitefish gets a gratuity for subcontracting the actual providers.”  (our emphasis)

The House Committee on Natural Resources is looking into this, apparently. At last glance, the House is Republican, so the Committee is run by Republicans, who have their swamp gas masks on. Move along, nothing to see here.

(Photo: Interior Secretary Ryan "Stinky" Zinke.)

Interior Department Whistleblower Resigns, Blasts Zinke, Trump

Joel Clement, a former Senior Advisor at the U.S. Department of the Interior, resigned yesterday to protest the incompetent management, retaliation against whistleblowers and antediluvian policies of extraction industry hack and frequent private jet flyer Secretary Ryan "Stinky" Zinke and loathsome moron (h/t Rexxon Tillerson) Donald "Rump" Trump.  His resignation letter reamed Stinky up one side and down the other.  Here are some choice excerpts; you can read the full text here (h/t P.E.C.):

Under Clement's heading "Poor Leadership":

I blew the whistle on the Trump administration because I believe you unlawfully retaliated against me for disclosing the perilous impacts of climate change upon Alaska Native communities and for working to help get them out of harm’s way. The investigations into my whistleblower complaints are ongoing and I hope to prevail.

Retaliating against civil servants for raising health and safety concerns is unlawful, but there are many more items to add to your resume of failure: You and President Trump have waged an allout assault on the civil service by muzzling scientists and policy experts like myself...

Under his heading "Waste of Taxpayer Dollars":

... I choose to save them the trouble, save taxpayer dollars, and honor the organization by stepping away to find a role more suited to my skills. Secretary Zinke, you and your fellow high-flying Cabinet officials have demonstrated over and over that you are willing to waste taxpayer dollars, but I’m not.

Under his heading "Climate Change Is Real And It's Dangerous":

... If the Trump administration continues to try to silence experts in science, health and other fields, many more Americans, and the natural ecosystems upon which they depend, will be put at risk. [snip]

Secretary Zinke: It is well known that you, Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, and President Trump are shackled to special interests such as oil, gas, and mining. You are unwilling to lead on climate change, and cannot be trusted with our nation’s natural resources.

He concludes:

I will continue to be an outspoken advocate for action, and my voice will be part of the American chorus calling for your resignation so that someone loyal to the interests of all Americans, not just special interests, can take your job.


Sadly, we desperately need people like Mr. Clement in government at all levels. Perhaps he can, as he says, continue to be an outspoken advocate for sane policies governing our natural resources on the outside -- something that, if we had the government we voted for, would be accomplished on the inside.