Probe: Top US official misused office to get son-in-law job
Matthew Brown, Associated Press
Updated 4:31 pm CDT, Friday, May 29, 2020
Photo: Steve Helber, AP
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2010, file photo, then-Secretary of Natural Resources-designate Doug Domenech speaks during a news conference in Richmond, Va. A senior Trump administration official misused his office for private gain by capitalizing on his government connections to help get a family member hired at the Environmental Protection Agency, investigators said. The Interior Department's Inspector General found that Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech reached out to a senior EPA official in person and later by email in 2017 to advocate for the unnamed relative when that person was seeking a job at the agency.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A senior Trump administration official misused his office for private gain by capitalizing on his government connections to help get his son-in-law hired at the Environmental Protection Agency, investigators said in a report obtained by The Associated Press.
The Interior Department's Inspector General found that Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech reached out to a senior EPA official in person and later by email in 2017 to advocate for the son-in-law when he was seeking a job at the agency.
. . .
It’s the second finding of ethical violations in six months against Domenech, the agency’s assistant secretary for insular and international affairs. Investigators in December found that he broke federal ethics rules by twice meeting with his former employer, a conservative Texas-based policy group, to discuss legal disputes between the group and the agency in early 2017.
The contacts between Domenech and the EPA official began at a concert at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Virginia in the fall of 2017.
Domenech, three family members including the son-in-law and the senior EPA official had received free tickets through the office of then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the report said.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Probe-US-Interior-official-used-office-for-15302872.php
Secretary Zinke Announces Expanded Role for Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas to Include Ocean Activities and International Affairs
Part of Reorganization to Improve Missions and Efficiency
Date: February 5, 2018
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced today the signing of Secretarial Order #3361, expanding the functions and responsibilities of the Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Doug Domenech to include the Office of International Affairs and the Ocean, Great Lakes, and Coastal Program (Oceans Program) currently under the Assistant Secretary for Policy Management and Budget. The new expanded portfolio will now be called the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Insular and International Affairs.
“This realignment is part of the Department’s overall efforts to reorganize for the next 100 years and improve mission achievement,” said Secretary Zinke. “By elevating the profiles of all three of these components within Interior, we aim to renew and strengthen U.S. strategic interests, strengthen relationships and policies for U.S. oceans, Great Lakes and coastal communities, and enhance collaboration globally on behalf of the American people.”
More:
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/secretary-zinke-announces-expanded-role-assistant-secretary-insular-areas-include
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