Story highlights Zinke's use of Interior Department and other helicopters was revealed earlier this year

Documents show that helicopter trips to and from events within a few hours cost taxpayers more than $14,000

Washington (CNN) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke responded Saturday to reports about his helicopter use, calling them a "wild departure from reality" in a statement on Twitter.

"Recent articles about official Interior Department helicopter usage are total fabrications and a wild departure of reality," he said in a statement posted with the tweet. "On these instances, I conducted an aerial survey of a million acres of federal monument lands, an aerial survey of a power line project which was under scrutiny for possible compensatory migration corruption from the previous administration, and a national command authority directed emergency response exercise."

Here are the #facts the DC media refuses to print. pic.twitter.com/5tOovaYbnv — Secretary Ryan Zinke (@SecretaryZinke) December 9, 2017

"All of these instances were thoroughly vetted and scrutinized before being approved by the Department's career ethics officers and solicitors," he said.

Zinke's use of Interior Department and other helicopters was revealed earlier this year when the department released his office and travel schedules in response to Freedom of Information Act requests. Documents show that helicopter trips to and from events within a few hours of his Washington office cost taxpayers more than $14,000. He provided no proof of inaccuracies in his statement.

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