Editor's note: This updates with details from the OIG letter.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who leaned on Alaska's U.S. senators in a bid to secure their votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act, will be investigated by his department's Office of Inspector General for possible ethical and/or legal violations.
Secretary Zinke placed phone calls to U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan late last month to urge them to vote for repeal or be prepared for a little less help from Interior on issues key to Alaska.
"I'm not going to go into the details, but I fear that the strong economic growth, pro-energy, pro-mining, pro-jobs and personnel from Alaska who are part of those policies are going to stop," Sen. Sullivan, who voted for repeal, told the Alaska Dispatch News in describing his conversation with Secretary Zinke. "I tried to push back on behalf of all Alaskans. … We're facing some difficult times and there's a lot of enthusiasm for the policies that Secretary Zinke and the president have been talking about with regard to our economy. But the message was pretty clear."
Sen. Murkowski was one of three Republicans to vote against repeal. The others were Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine.
OIG staff sent letters late Thursday to both U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva and Frank Pallone, the top Democrats on the House committees on natural resources and energy, respectively, to announce that they would look into what the Democrats perceived as threats against the senators.
Rep. Grijalva had asked the OIG on July 27, the day after Secretary Zinke called the senators, to investigate the matter.
The phone calls, the Arizona Democrat said at the time, were "an alarming sign of how far the administration’s ethical standards have fallen and how irresponsible the Interior Department has become."
The letter sent to the representatives was short and brief, essentially a confirmation that OIG would look into Rep. Grijalva's concerns.
"You requested that the Office of Inspector General for DOI investigate this matter and address a number of potential legal and ethical violations," said the letter, a copy of which the Traveler obtained Friday evening. "The OIG is undertaking a preliminary investigation into this matter. We will advise you about what further action the results of this inquiry lead the OIG to take."
Comments
ecbuck ... won't explain that he is removing the Medicaid expansion from his numbers because it's not "real" insurance and that the "solution" to people who receive vital care that they can't pay for is bankruptcy. Including people with genetic conditions- because he's a lottery winner and they aren't.
How anyone can take this ... seriously boggles my mind. It's a "philosophy" where the strong and lucky dominate the weak and unlucky all the way down.
This comment was edited to remove gratuitious language. -- Ed.
If you really believe that I have some offshore property for you to build on.
Toxie, sorry, life isn't fair. I can't sing or dance or dunk a basketball. That is my lottery but I am not whining about it. While there are some that may lose the genetic lottery, for the vast majority, our health is prmarily driven by our lifestyles. Your philosopy is that people shouldn't be responsible for how they live or how they use the healthcare system. How anyone can take this ... seriously boggles my mind. Again, the farther the receiver of healthcare is from the payer, the more incentive to over visit, over test, over diagnose, over medicate and over operate and sue. That is why our healthcare costs are so high now. And the fact is, no one is denied essential healthcare. I do believe that one should be eligible for health coverage from day one, even perhaps through age 18. But, once a working adult, there is no legitimate reason that someone should not provide for his own continuous (or near continuous) coverage. If one decides not to get insurance and develops a problem, then they lost the insurance lottery, not the genetic lottery.
I dare you to be that callous to to the faces of people with Type I diabetes or sickle cell anemia or Factor V Leiden. All of whom were simply denied individual coverage no matter how much they wanted it under the old laws.
Edited to remove personal attack.
Actually, if they were part of a group plan, they weren't denied at all. But as I said before, someone should always have the chance to buy insurance at the beginning. But if they don't, that is on them, not on me. And if they smoke, drink excessively, fail to excercise, camp at McDonalds or engage in dangerouse activities, that should be on them, not me.
EC Buck
You're out of luck
The Zinke threats proven real.
Now you can whine
That the media opined
It really is a big deal!
Perhaps you would like to document that proof, smokies.
With a plethora of news
There is none he can use
to deflect from a growing new scandal.
Involving Ryan Z, it is clear to see
EC's got more Trump crap to handle.