The Trump administration's dealings with Indian Country have been characterized as one disaster after another and one of them appears to be catching up with Ryan Zinke, the former Secretary of the Interior.
A federal grand jury has been looking into Zinke's connection to a stalled tribally-owned casino in Connecticut, The Washington Post reported. That confirms what multiple sources told Indianz.Com when the former secretary announced his resignation about two months ago. At the time, the sources told Indianz.Com the grand jury was interested in hearing from Bureau of Indian Affairs officials and others at the Department of the Interior with knowledge about the Trump administration's failure to approve gaming agreements for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe. The Post confirms as much with its new story. "Prosecutors have also asked witnesses — who include Interior officials — about what sort of advice they provided Zinke in the course of his review of the application," the story reads.
Zinke's handling of the matter represents another instance of the Trump administration's questionable dealings with Indian Country. Both tribes had been told more than once by officials and employees at Interior that their agreements were going to be approved once submitted to the BIA. The tribes even hosted an honoring ceremony for one of those officials -- Associate Deputy Secretary Jim Cason -- during the mid-yar session of the National Congress of American Indians in June 2017. Zinke also was honored at the event, which took place on Mohegan homelands in Connecticut. So when the tribes finally submitted their agreements on August 2, 2017, they expected a positive decision 45 days later. But instead of providing them with an answer, Zinke on September 15, 2017, sent both tribes a latter that offered "vague, cursory reasoning" for the inaction, Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote in a decision last Friday. Attempts to figure out what happened between June and September, however, have not been entirely productive. Citing the litigation, spokespersons at the BIA and DOI have declined to offer comments on the record. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, POLITICO obtained a number of key documents -- only to find out that almost the entire contents had been redacted. On one significant memo, all that was left were the names of three BIA individuals -- all of whom happen to be tribal citizens -- indicating that someone at a higher-level was likely pulling the strings, according to the ongoing lawsuit. "Secretary Zinke visited the White House to meet with Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn who, exerting executive-level pressure, requested the department to not approve the tribal-state agreement," the Mashantucket Tribe and the state of Connecticut write in their updated complaint, The New London Day reported. The legal development opens the door for the tribe and the state to obtain key documents and depose key players -- maybe even Zinke -- under oath. Cason is also of potential interest, as is Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, who arrived at Interior after the June 2017 honoring but before the "vague, cursory" letter in which the BIA failed to take action. Bernhardt has since been tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the department. In an appearance before NCAI's winter session in Washington last week, he wasn't honored, but he promised to honor the federal government's trust and treaty responsibilities. "I want to be a partner with you ... and I want you to hold me accountable," Bernhardt said last Wednesday. "Because when I give you my word, it's real," Bernhardt said to applause.Indianz learned from multiple sources of a grand jury that was looking into Ryan Zinke's activities at the department. After he learned of possible action against him on Friday, he chose to resign, according to the sources.
— indianz.com (@indianz) December 15, 2018