It was found last month that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke sought to skirt or alter department policies to justify his taxpayer-funded trips with his wife. | Pool-Oliver Contreras/Getty Images Politics Zinke responds to ethics criticism by calling Democratic lawmaker a drunk

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Friday accused the House Natural Resources Committee's top Democrat of "drunken" behavior and paying "hush money" after the Democrat called for the secretary to resign for his series of ethics scandals.

"It's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle," Zinke wrote on his official Interior Department Twitter account after Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) published an op-ed asking for Zinke's resignation.


The remark, which in most eras would be considered a stunning breach of decorum for a sitting Cabinet member, is the latest in a string of comments by Zinke proclaiming his innocence or calling for investigations against his critics. He followed by making other unproven allegations against Grijalva, who is set to chair the Natural Resources Committee after Democrats take control of the chamber in January.

Grijalva responded in a statement: "The American people know who I’m here to serve, and they know in whose interests I’m acting. They don’t know the same about Secretary Zinke."

He added on Twitter: "The allegations against Secretary Zinke are credible and serious. Instead of addressing the substantive issues raised in this morning’s op-ed, he's resorting to personal attacks."

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Environmental groups opposed to Zinke’s policies immediately denounced Zinke’s slam at the lawmaker.

“Delete your account. And resign,” the Sierra Club’s Twitter account replied to Zinke.

“Even by Secretary Zinke’s standards, this is a new low,” said Jennifer Rokala, executive director of the Center for Western Priorities. “It’s unbecoming of a cabinet secretary. It’s also foolish to pick a fight with a member of Congress who will soon have oversight and subpoena power over your agency.”

Former George W. Bush administration Interior Secretary Gale Norton chuckled and declined to comment when POLITICO asked her opinion on Zinke's tweet.

Grijalva had pointed in his op-ed to the various ethical investigations into Zinke, including at least one that has been referred to the Justice Department. The Arizona Democrat promised his committee would continue investigating Zinke when the Democrats take power.

In his response to Grijalva, Zinke wrote: "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 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."

Zinke’s allegations against Grijalva echo those first reported in the Washington Times last year, which alleged that the Democrat had paid a former aide $48,000 to settle allegations of misconduct. The complaint was never taken to Capitol Hill's workplace misconduct adjudicators at the Office of Compliance.

At the time, Grijalva demanded an apology from the newspaper, saying the aide’s complaints were non-sexual in nature. He said the payment was "mutually agreed on terms for a severance package, including an agreement that neither of us would talk about it publicly," with the assistance of the House's chief employment counsel.

Zinke's tweet included the hashtag "#TuneInnForMore," an apparent reference to a D.C. bar where Grijalva was known as a regular. A 2010 HuffPost story noted that "for weeks, a cartoon caricature of him hung on a wall by the front door: a shirtless Grijalva, at the beach, admiring a sandcastle he has built with Lynn Woolsey and Debbie Wasserman Schultz."

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift chimed in with her own tweet Friday: "Everyone loves the Tune Inn. Some more than others."

In fact, Grijalva was actually at the Tune Inn when Zinke's tweet arrived, Energy & Environment News reported, citing "multiple sources." The lawmaker left the bar "shortly after Zinke blasted out his extraordinarily harsh tweet," the publication added.

Then again, Zinke has been known to enjoy the occasional beer himself — last year, he tweeted a picture of himself settling a beef with Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski over a couple of Alaska brews.

Part of one investigation into Zinke also centers on his years-long plan to open a microbrewery in his hometown of Whitefish, Mont. Whitefish residents told POLITICO earlier this year Zinke was a regular sight at the Bulldog Saloon, the Spotted Bear Spirits distillery and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake for drinks. One resident told POLITICO: “I’ve seen him at breweries all the time. … I know he’s super into craft beer.“

Zinke at the time sent a text message to POLITICO about the investigation, saying, “At this point in my life, I am more interested in sampling hand crafted beers rather than making them.”

The Congressional Western Caucus, chaired by Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar, publicly backed Zinke's slam at Grijalva on Friday.

"Well said, @SecretaryZinke!" the caucus tweeted from its official account. "If anyone should resign, it should be Rep. Grijalva."

Meanwhile, other Democrats took to Twitter on Friday morning to back up Grijalva’s call for Zinke’s resignation.

"Zinke has brought a culture of corruption and corporate favoritism to an agency tasked with caring for our public lands and resources," tweeted New York Rep. Nydia Velázquez. "The American people deserve better."

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi added: "We couldn’t have a clearer contrast with the values-based leadership of @RepRaulGrijalva to protect the planet for our children than @SecretaryZinke's toxic, special interest agenda."

Zinke has maintained that the investigations into him have produced no proof of wrongdoing, although he remains under a considerable cloud and is one of several Cabinet members believed likely to leave the Trump administration in coming months.

In potentially the most damaging probe into his conduct, the Interior Department's inspector general has been looking into Zinke’s ties to a land deal in Whitefish that also involves the chairman of Halliburton, a major oil services company whose business Interior regulates — as POLITICO first reported in June.

The deal involves a foundation that Zinke formed and, according to Montana government records, was part of until earlier this year. Zinke has said the filing that listed him as a foundation director in 2018 was the fault of his lawyer.

Another probe by the inspector general involves Interior's handling of an American Indian casino project in Connecticut that was opposed by gambling giant MGM Resorts International.

Earlier this month, Interior’s internal watchdog cleared Zinke in another probe, which examined allegations that he had improperly shrunk a national monument in New Mexico to benefit a Republican lawmaker. The inspector general has not yet released the full report.

But last month, the IG found that Zinke had sought to skirt or alter department policies to justify his taxpayer-funded trips with his wife. Earlier it found that he had not properly disclosed ties to donor Bill Foley, whom he used a charter flight to visit last year while on official business. An earlier investigation into alleged political threats against Murkowski was deemed inconclusive after investigators said Zinke did not cooperate.

Zinke has done a series of interviews in recent weeks to declare his innocence.

“You know what they all say?” Zinke said of the investigations on Fox News on Thursday night. “Ryan Zinke follows all the rules, all the regulations, all the procedures. This is politically motivated. In Montana we call it b.s.”

During the same interview, he called for an investigation into the Western Values Project, a Montana-based conservation group that has criticized his policies and behavior. The group's executive director. Chris Saeger, hit back Friday.

"It’s patently obvious the secretary is in a panic and is trying to deflect attention away from serious allegations and concerns about his conduct," Saeger said. "He should refocus his attention on the pending investigations into his unethical conduct and repairing his record on public lands."

White House officials and sources close to Zinke have said he is expected to leave his position around the end of the year, and POLITICO has reported that he has even reached out to energy companies about possible employment after Interior. Zinke has denied that, telling media outlets that he still enjoys Trump’s support.