In the several hours since President Donald Trump announced Ryan Zinke would be stepping down from his position as secretary of the Interior Department, critics…
In the several hours since President Donald Trump announced Ryan Zinke would be stepping down from his position as secretary of the Interior Department, critics have launched an attack website against his likely replacement.
The Western Values Project (WVP), a left-leaning environmental organization, has launched www.davidbernhardt.org, a website that purportedly lists the conflicts of interest in David Bernhardt’s past. Bernhardt is the current deputy secretary of the Interior, and will serve as acting secretary once Zinke leaves at the end of the year.
Bernhardt has a long history of working in the Interior Department, having served on and off since the George W. Bush administration. He has also worked as a lobbyist for oil and gas companies — work that WVP says makes him the “ultimate DC swamp creature.”
“The bottom line is that Bernhardt is too conflicted to even be Acting Secretary,” read a Saturday statement from Chris Saeger, the executive director of WVP. “At the very least the American public deserves to know more about the man behind the curtain who is actually running the show at Interior and could soon be fully responsible for managing our country’s public lands, wildlife and natural resources.
