Interior IG: Utah Monument Probe Finds No Evidence Of Zinke Wrongdoing

EMIGRANT,MT-OCTOBER, 08: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signs a Public Lands Order at a ceremony in Emigrant, MT on October 08, 2018. The Public Lands Order withdraws 30,000 acres of public land from hard rock mining surrounding two proposed gold mines north of Yellowstone National Park for 20 years. The gold mining is opposed by local businesses in Paradise Valley along the Yellowstone River just north of Yellowstone National Park. (Photo by William Campbell-Corbis via Getty Images)
EMIGRANT, MT - OCTOBER 08: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signs a Public Lands Order at a ceremony in Emigrant, MT on October 08, 2018. The Public Lands Order withdraws 30,000 acres of public land from hard rock minin... EMIGRANT, MT - OCTOBER 08: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signs a Public Lands Order at a ceremony in Emigrant, MT on October 08, 2018. The Public Lands Order withdraws 30,000 acres of public land from hard rock mining surrounding two proposed gold mines in the mountains north of Yellowstone National Park for 20 years. The gold mining is opposed by local businesses in Paradise Valley along the Yellowstone River just north of Yellowstone National Park. (Photo by William Campbell-Corbis via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — An internal watchdog has cleared Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke of wrongdoing following a complaint that he redrew the boundaries of a national monument in Utah to benefit a former state lawmaker and political ally.

The Interior Department’s office of inspector general says it found no evidence that Zinke gave former state Rep. Mike Noel preferential treatment in shrinking the boundaries of Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Noel, who publicly pushed for the monument to be redrawn, owns land that was surrounded by the monument but now is located outside its boundaries.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the report, which has not been released publicly.

Zinke faces other probes, including one centered on a Montana land deal involving a foundation he created and run by his wife.

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