Former Interior secretary Gale Norton claims the Interior Department Inspector General "wasted millions of taxpayer dollars" on a corruption investigation that ended without charges being brought against her.

Federal authorities investigated Norton's role in the awarding of shale oil leases to Royal Dutch Shell PLC. Norton went to work for Shell after leaving the Bush administration.

The Inspector General said it appeared that Shell was given preferential treatment during Norton's tenure. And she failed to "fully describe" her dealings with the leasing program when interviewed by investigators, according to the report.

Norton said the investigation was "an attempt to find imagined wrongdoing" in a statement quoted in news reports. She no longer works for Shell.

Get the Story:
Ex-Interior chief says ethics probe wasted funds (AP 12/14)
Ex-Interior Secretary Says US 'Wasted Millions' In Probe (Dow Jones Newswires 12/13)

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