Dept. of Interior Whistleblower: Zinke will “be an empty seat with a cowboy hat on it.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
CONTACT
hadley@montanademocrats.org
Joel Clement shares his experience with Zinke’s corrupt dealings at Interior
Helena, MT – Tonight, Joel Clement, Zinke’s Whistleblower from the Department of the Interior, sat down with Cora Neumann, to discuss his firsthand experience trying to maintain integrity while working in Zinke’s Interior Department.
Clement discussed what drove him to file a whistleblower complaint in the first place, following Ryan Zinke’s retaliation against employees like Clement who were speaking out about the dangers of climate change. The complaint was so startling and blatant, that the Office of the Special Counsel at the Interior began their investigation immediately, unlike the traditional months-long waiting process.
Neumann and Clement detailed how Zinke “cleared the path” and reassigned these employees so he could curry favor with the oil and gas industry. He slowed studies that would place safety regulations on oil and gas companies. “Why would he do these things? Who is he actually serving?” asked Neumann. “That’s not ‘government efficiency’, that’s corruption.”
When asked by an audience member why Ryan Zinke was fired from the Department of the Interior, Clement responded, “Ryan Zinke was run out because of this long list of scandals. You don’t leave unless the White House wants you to go. And the Trump White House ran him out of town. If he goes back to the Hill, he’s not going to be effective – he’s tainted. No one is going to want to work with him. It’ll be an empty seat with a cowboy hat on it.”
After Zinke was fired from the Department of the Interior, he proceeded to take cushy political lobbying jobs for the very companies he was supposed to “regulate.” Just last year, he pulled in a half-a-million dollar paycheck from Conoco-Philips.
“Ryan Zinke is out for himself– plain and simple,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Ryan will use this opportunity to enrich himself, like he’s done with every job he’s ever had. This November, Montana voters are not going to let Lyin’ Ryan get in spitting distance of elected office once more.”
BACKGROUND:
Clement served as a senior administrator in the U.S. Department of the Interior for seven years before resigning his position following what he calls a politically motivated demotion by incoming Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Clement’s resignation letter blew the whistle on Zinke’s leadership and his practice of retaliatory staff reassignments to “eliminate employees” who spoke out about the dangers of climate change. Read Clement’s resignation letter HERE.
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