Zinke Calls Dem Lawmaker Likely to Oversee Interior Dept. a Drunk After Negative Op-ed

Hours after Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) penned an op-ed calling for Ryan Zinke’s resignation, the interior secretary hit back, calling the Democrat a “drunk” who stole taxpayer money to hide his behavior. “It’s hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle,” Zinke tweeted Friday. “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 continued: “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.” Grijalva, who will likely chair the House Natural Resources Committee, wrote a USA Today op-ed on Friday, calling for Zinke to resign because of his “ethical and managerial failings.” Zinke has been targeted in 18 ethics probes since joining the Trump administration last year.