Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke just called a congressman who told him to resign a drunk

published 30 November 2018

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke released an extraordinary statement Friday accusing a sitting Democratic congressman of being a drunk and calling for his resignation.

Zinke was responding to an opinion piece written by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) calling for Zinke's resignation due to his "ethical and managerial failings." Grijalva references the fact that there are at least 17 ongoing investigations into Zinke over numerous scandals during his time in office, one of which was referred to the Justice Department for investigation in October. Grijalva himself helped launch several probes into Zinke as ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, which he is expected to lead come January.

In an official statement Friday, Zinke said of Grijalva, "It's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of the bottle," saying the op-ed 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's referring to a 2017 Washington Times report that found Grijalva had paid $48,395 in severance to a staffer who threatened to accuse him in a lawsuit of creating a hostile work environment with his drinking. "He should resign and pay back the taxpayer for the hush money and the tens of thousands dollars he forced my department to spend investigating unfounded allegations," Zinke said of Grijalva.

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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