The inspector general of the Interior Department is looking into whether Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is trading favors with the chair of Halliburton, a company with major business before Zinke’s department. Zinke stands to gain one of his longtime dreams: a brewpub in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. Yes, really: Halliburton, the interior secretary, and a brewpub. (Also: a parking lot.)
Zinke had tried for years to build a brewpub on land he owns and been rebuffed by the city.
Meanwhile, a planned development in Whitefish backed by David Lesar, the chairman of Halliburton — the nation’s largest oil services company, which would be one of the biggest winners in the Interior Department’s drive to roll back regulations — includes plans for just such a microbrewery. [...]
The Whitefish city planner told POLITICO earlier this year that the developers of the Lesar-backed project told him the microbrewery was intended for Zinke. A plan for the development submitted to the city by Zinke’s wife, Lola — who agreed to use land controlled by a Zinke-created foundation to build a parking lot for the development — included a hand-drawn separation of land for the proposed brewery project.
Former EPA head Scott Pruitt must be jealous—he got blown off by Chick-Fil-A when he tried to score his wife a franchise of the fast food restaurant, while Halliburton’s head appears to have been willing to do some business with Zinke. But successful or unsuccessful, the Trump administration continues to be distinguished for its grifting.