Zinke doesn't deny threatening Sen. Murkowski

[L. Coyote]

Aug 1, 2017
In Bunkerville, Nevada on July 30, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was asked directly if he threatened Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski if she didn't vote for the so-called "skinny repeal" health care bill.
Zinke first tries to dodge the question with a bizarre line about the moon, then calls the question "laughable" while not denying he made the threatening call.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. Felony, need to open investigation.

[L. Coyote]

4. Bush White House lawyer says "Zinke should be removed" for passing on Trump threat

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Eliot Rosewater]

5. Imagine Obama's WH doing this to a red state governor who would not expand

Medicaid.

HE would have been hunted down.

[Sneederbunk]

2. His excuse is that it did not work.

[L. Coyote]

3. Journalist finally gets to ask Interior Secretary Zinke if he threatened a senator ...

Journalist finally gets to ask Interior Secretary Zinke if he threatened a senator over her health care vote. Short answer: Yes.
https://medium.com/westwise/journalist-finally-gets-to-ask-interior-secretary-zinke-if-he-threatened-a-senator-over-health-care-e712a3a6550e

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has been in the hot seat since the Alaska Dispatch News reported that Zinke threatened to use the weight of the Interior Department to hurt Alaskans if Senator Lisa Murkowski did not vote for the so-called “skinny repeal” health care bill. ............

........... his classic non-denial denial never answers the reporter’s question. The secretary could have said, unequivocally, that he issued no such threats. But, instead, Secretary Zinke equivocated, leaving us to understand that he did make a call to Senator Murkowski and he did issue an ultimatum.

This is not only cynical, it’s also deeply troubling.

Secretary Zinke is charged with overseeing hundreds of millions of acres of public lands across the West. The Interior Department and the agency’s decisions impact the lives of millions of Westerners — especially those (like myself) who live in rural areas. His department manages our national parks, decides where development occurs, and where trails can be built. It oversees massive and critically important water projects that provide irrigation water for agriculture and municipal water for millions living across the region.

If Secretary Zinke is so willing to threaten retribution against his political allies — he and Senator Murkowski see eye-to-eye on many issues relating to energy and the environment — what about Westerners represented by elected officials who Zinke may perceive as adversaries? Will the secretary work to undercut other members of Congress who may not support President Trump’s policy agenda?...........