"Interior: Investigation Highlights Challenges For 'Ethics Weenies'"

"Interior Department ethics honcho Scott de la Vega knows some senior staffers grimace at the medicine he prescribes.

He's seen the reactions at required ethics training.

"What happens in reality sometimes is that many of these people ... who have been in government before, they say, 'Oh, ethics guys, you ethics weenies, you know what, chill out,'" de la Vega told Interior investigators last year.

Speaking to two Office of Inspector General agents looking into a complaint filed against Assistant Interior Secretary for Insular and International Affairs Doug Domenech, de la Vega elaborated about the attitudes he's sometimes encountered in his career throughout government."

Michael Doyle and Kevin Bogardus report for Greenwire: Thursday, May 21, 2020.

SEE ALSO:

"Two-Thirds of Interior Dept Meetings Attended by Fossil Fuel Interests as Trump Lavishes Industry With Covid Relief: Report" (Common Dreams)

"New Documents Reveal More About Alleged Ethics Violations at the Department of the Interior" (Pacific Standard)

"Interior Dept. Opens Ethics Investigation of Its New Chief, David Bernhardt" (New York Times)

"Ethics Office Examines Allegations That  Interior Dept. Officials Violated Transparency Laws" (New York Times)

"Interior Chief’s Lobbying Past Has Challenged the Agency’s Ethics Referees" (New York Times)

"Interior Department Launches Investigation of Potential Ethics Violations Among Staff" (New York Times)