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

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.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Zinke ended his tweet with the hashtag "#TuneInnForMore," a play on words referencing the Tune Inn bar in Washington, D.C. Grijalva has not yet responded to Zinke's stunning rebuke.