Ryan Zinke

FILE - Democratic U.S. House candidate Monica Tranel listens during a news conference about a potential increase in utility rates, Oct. 19, 2022, in Butte, Mont. Tranel announced Monday, July 10, 2023, that she's seeking her party's nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke in next year's election, after suffering a close loss in 2022 to the former Trump administration Cabinet member. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Montana Democrat Monica Tranel seeks rematch against US Rep. Ryan Zinke

Montana Democrat Monica Tranel is seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke in 2024 after losing a close contest last year to the former Trump administration Cabinet member.

Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Republican candidate in Montana's 1st Congressional District, talks with people at an election-night watch party in Whitefish, Mont., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Surging Montana GOP eyes big prize: US Senate seat in 2024

Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Republican candidate in Montana's 1st Congressional District, talks with people at an election-night watch party in Whitefish, Mont., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Tommy Martino)

Surging Montana GOP eyes big prize: US Senate seat in 2024

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale meets with supporters during a Lewis and Clark Republican Women's Club luncheon in Helena, Mont., on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

Rosendale wins reelection in Montana US House race

U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale meets with supporters during a Lewis and Clark Republican Women's Club luncheon in Helena, Mont., on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

Rosendale wins reelection in Montana US House race

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Candidates in the race for Montana's western congressional district, Republican former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, left, Democratic lawyer and former Olympian Monica Tranel, right, and, at center, Libertarian John Lamb, a farmer and construction worker, meet in a forum in Butte, Mont., Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022. (Meagan Thompson/The Montana Standard via AP)

Zinke put on defensive over past lies in US House debate

BUTTE, Mont. (AP) — Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke faced sharp attacks for past dishonesty from his Democratic opponent in a Montana U.S.

FILE - Montana House candidate and former Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke speaks onstage at an event hosted by Butte-Silver Bow County Republicans at the Copper King Hotel and Convention Center, May 13, 2022, in Butte, Mont. An internal watchdog says Zinke lied to investigators about conversations he had with lobbyists, lawmakers and other officials regarding a bid by two Indian tribes to operate a casino in Connecticut. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Watchdog: Ex-Interior head Zinke lied during casino probe

An internal watchdog says former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke lied to investigators about conversations he had with lobbyists, lawmakers and other officials regarding a bid by two Indian tribes to operate a casino in Connecticut.

Montana U.S. House candidate and former Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke waves to passing motorists outside the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell, Mont., on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Casey Kreider/The Daily Inter Lake via AP)

Ryan Zinke wins GOP nod in race for new Montana House seat

Former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has won an unexpectedly tight race to become the Republican nominee in the race for a new U.S.

Montana U.S. House candidate and former Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke waves to passing motorists outside the Flathead County Fairgrounds in Kalispell, Mont., on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. (Casey Kreider/The Daily Inter Lake via AP)

Wrong-sized ballots delay results in Montana US House race

Ballot printing errors have delayed election results for Montana’s new congressional seat. The problems have forced a small northwestern county to count votes by hand in the unexpectedly close Republican primary race between former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and former state Sen.

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020, file photo, Orange County Supervisor Michelle Steel participates in a news conference in Santa Ana, Calif. California is a heavily Democratic state, but the Republican Party retains pockets of strength in U.S. House districts that will be among the country's marquee elections in the fight to control Congress. Steel, a South Korean immigrant, is hoping to win another term in Congress. (Paul Bersebach/The Orange County Register via AP, File)

US House races in California could shape future of Congress

U.S. House battles are taking shape that could tip the balance of power in Congress. In Montana, Trump Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was in a tight match to claim the Republican nomination for a new House seat.

FILE - U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 29, 2021. Rosendale, who is Montana's lone representative in the U.S. House, is seeking election to a U.S. House seat representing eastern Montana in the upcoming June 2022 election. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

Rosendale wins GOP primary; Zinke race too early to call

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s lone congressman handily won the GOP primary in his bid for a second term Tuesday as ballot-counting continued in the race for the state’s newly created second seat in the U.S.

Montana U.S. House candidate and former Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, left, speaks with patrons at Metals Sports Bar and Grill, May 13, 2022, in Butte, Mont. Zinke is seeking election to a newly created U.S. House district and has been criticized by some fellow Republicans in the GOP primary for not being conservative enough. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown)

Trump ally Zinke fights claim he’s too liberal for Montana

When Republican Ryan Zinke first ran for Congress, the former Navy SEAL faced false accusations his military career had ended in disgrace.

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, then-Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke speaks at EPA headquarters in Washington. Government investigators say Zinke misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement. The Interior Department's inspector general said in a report made public Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, that Zinke continued working with a foundation on the commercial project in the community of Whitefish, Montana even after he committed upon taking office to breaking ties with the foundation. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

US investigators: Zinke misused his Interior secretary job

Government investigators say former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a Montana development project and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement.

Republicans drawing more money in Montana US House campaigns

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Republicans Ryan Zinke and Matt Rosendale have raised more than $1 million each in their campaigns for Montana’s two U.S.

US House candidate Zinke files financial disclosure report

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana Republican U.S. House candidate Ryan Zinke filed a financial disclosure that reports he has received nearly $800,000 in consulting fees so far this year and collected between $25,000 and $80,000 in rent from three properties in Whitefish.

Second Democrat joins race for Montana’s new U.S. House seat

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Monica Tranel became the second Democrat to announce her candidacy for Montana’s second U.S.

Democratic state Rep. Laurie Bishop poses for a photo inside the Montana State Capitol, in Helena, Mont., Tuesday, June 29, 2021. The three-term lawmaker from Livingston is running for Montana’s new seat in the U.S. House. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP)

Montana’s new US House race draws diverse candidates

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Two candidates announced Thursday they are entering the race for the second U.S. House seat that was awarded to Montana earlier this year.

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2016, file photo, then-Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke speaks with a supporter in Billings, Mont., as he campaigns for re-election to a second term as the state's sole representative in the U.S. House. The former congressman and interior secretary has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating he's interested in running for the second U.S. House seat awarded to the state on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Trump Interior secretary runs for new Montana US House seat

Former congressman and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says he’s running for Montana’s newly awarded U.S. House seat.

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2016, file photo, then-Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke speaks with a supporter in Billings, Mont., as he campaigns for re-election to a second term as the state's sole representative in the U.S. House. The former congressman and interior secretary has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating he's interested in running for the second U.S. House seat awarded to the state on Monday, April 26, 2021. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

Former Trump official Zinke eyes Montana’s new US House seat

Former Montana congressman and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has filed election paperwork indicating he is interested in running for the second U.S.

FILE - In this Jan. 2, 2016, file photo, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr. greets protesters outside his home in Burns, Ore. A judge on Friday, Dec. 20, 2019 revoked the grazing permit of two ranchers who were pardoned last year by President Donald Trump on an arson conviction for setting fire to federal lands. (Les Zaitz/The Oregonian via AP, File)

Judge revokes grazing permit for ranchers pardoned by Trump

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A judge on Friday revoked the grazing permit of two ranchers who were pardoned last year by President Donald Trump on an arson conviction for setting fire to federal lands.

FILE - In this July 27, 2015, file photo, the busy Bright Angel Trail is crowded with hikers headed down into the Grand Canyon at Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz. The Interior Department is considering recommendations to modernize campgrounds within the National Park Service. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

Proposal seeks to modernize campgrounds at national parks

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Food trucks. Wi-Fi. Hot showers.

Those campground upgrades could be coming to a national park near you.

Judge bars Trump from taking energy panel’s advice

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A judge barred the Trump administration on Tuesday from acting on the recommendations of an energy advisory panel that was created to make it easier to extract fossil fuels from public lands and waters.

FILE - This July 9, 2017 file photo, shows a view of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. A government watchdog will investigate whether the U.S. Interior Department broke the law by making plans to open up lands cut from the Utah national monument by President Trump to leasing for oil, gas and coal development. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico said Monday, June 17, 2019, in a news release that the Government Accountability Office informed his office last week that it has agreed to his request that it look into whether the Interior violated the appropriations law by using funds to assess potential resource extraction in the lands cut from the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. (Spenser Heaps/The Deseret News via AP, File)

Watchdog to investigate Interior moves on Utah monument

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A government watchdog will investigate whether the U.S. Interior Department broke the law by making plans to open lands cut from a Utah national monument by President Donald Trump to leasing for oil, gas and coal development, a pair of Democratic congress members said Monday.

Correction: Zinke-Gold Mining Job story

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — In an April 16 article on former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke taking a job with U.S.

Trump to name acting Interior secretary to lead department

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that he is nominating David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist for oil and gas companies and other industries, to head the Interior Department despite objections from environmental groups that Bernhardt already was making regulatory decisions on the cou

Taxpayers Face Quagmire Of Specialinterests

When he was campaigning, President Donald Trump famously pledged to drain the Washington, D.C., swamp.

FILE - In this May 9, 2017, file photo, then Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides a horse in the new Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding, Utah. As former U.S. Interior Secretary Zinke exits Washington amid a cloud of unresolved ethics investigations, he says he has lived up to the conservation ideals of Teddy Roosevelt and insists the myriad allegations against him will be proven untrue. Zinke said he quit President Donald Trump’s cabinet on his own terms, despite indications he was pressured by the White House to resign effective Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (Scott G Winterton/The Deseret News via AP, File)

Outgoing US Interior secretary defends legacy as he leaves

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — As former U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke exits Washington chased by ethics investigations and criticism of his actions favoring industry, he told The Associated Press he’s lived up to the conservation ideals of Theodore Roosevelt and insisted the myriad allegations against

FILE - In this Sept. 24, 2018 file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks during a tour at Zion National Park in Utah. Zinke was in southern Utah to draw attention to a maintenance backlog at national parks. Newly-departed Interior Secretary Zinke tells The Associated Press that he's been truthful with investigators looking into numerous ethics complaints against him and has no knowledge of a report that he lied. Zinke's comments came after The Washington Post reported Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, that the Justice Department's public integrity section was examining whether he lied to investigators from Interior's office of inspector general. (Jeffrey D. Allred/The Deseret News via AP, File)

Zinke denies report that he lied to Interior investigators

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Newly departed U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told The Associated Press on Thursday that he’s been truthful with investigators looking into numerous ethics complaints against him and rejected as inaccurate a report that he’s under investigation for lying.

President Donald Trump, joined by Vice President Mike Pence, right, and first lady Melania Trump, left, gives the thumbs-up as he greets people during the Congressional Ball in the G...

Scope of investigations into Trump has shaped his presidency

WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigations now entangle Donald Trump’s White House, campaign, transition, inauguration, charity and business.

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke attends the Congressional Ball in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Zinke resigns as interior secretary amid numerous probes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, facing federal investigations into his travel, political activity and potential conflicts of interest, will be leaving the administration at year’s end, President Donald Trump said Saturday.

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2018 file photo, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke speaks after an order withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetland was signed, at EPA headquarters in Washington. Trump says on Saturday, Dec. 15, Zinke leaving administration at end of year, successor to be announced next week.(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

The Latest: Zinke says ‘attacks’ led to his resignation

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the departure of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (all times local):

5:25 p.m.

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, file photo, the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, Calif. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says wildfires in California in 2018, released roughly the same amount of carbon emissions as are produced each year to provide electricity to the state. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

California wildfire emissions equal year of power pollution

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Wildfires in California in 2018 released the rough equivalent of about 68 million tons of heat-trapping carbon dioxide — about the same amount of carbon emissions as are produced in a year to provide electricity to the state, U.S.

File - In this Nov. 14, 2018 file photo, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke , left, talks with Matthew Watkins of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection after touring the fire ravaged town of Paradise, Calif. The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it has distributed more than $20 million in assistance for people displaced by Northern California's catastrophic wildfire. FEMA spokesman Frank Mansell told The Associated Press that $15.5 million has been spent on housing assistance and $5 million on other needs like funeral expenses. Zinke and US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue were scheduled to visit the community of Paradise, which was incinerated by the fire that ignited in the parches Sierra Nevada foothills Nov. 8 and quickly spread across 240 square miles (620 square kilometers).(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

Zinke says Northern California fire costs likely in billions

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Costs associated with a deadly Northern California wildfire will likely be in the billions, U.S.

Denise Chester, an evacuee of the Camp Fire, hugs her son Antonio Batres as she volunteers sorting clothes at a makeshift shelter in Chico, Calif., on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018. Chester, who doesn't want to know yet whether her home survived, said "I want to help. I don't want to shut down." (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Guard troops search for more wildfire victims; 56 dead

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — With at least 130 people still missing, National Guard troops searched Wednesday through charred debris for more victims of California’s deadliest wildfire as top federal and state officials toured the ruins of a community completely destroyed by the flames.

FILE - This undated illustration provided by Hilcorp Alaska Inc. shows a model of an artificial gravel island of the Liberty Project, a proposal to drill in Arctic waters from the artificial island. The first oil and gas production wells in federal Arctic waters have been approved by U.S. regulators. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, announced it issued a conditional permit for the Liberty Project, a proposal by a subsidiary of Houston-based Hilcorp for production wells on an artificial island in the Beaufort Sea.(Hilcorp Alaska Inc. via AP, File)

Arctic offshore production wells approved off Alaska’s coast

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The first oil and gas production wells in federal Arctic waters have been approved by U.S. regulators.