"In his successful runs for state senator in Montana and then for Congress, Representative Ryan Zinke has promoted his 23-year career in the Navy SEALs as one of his main credentials, going so far as to put the SEALs’ Trident symbol on his campaign bus.
While he has portrayed his accomplishments in the Navy in glowing terms, Mr. Zinke, a Republican and President-elect Donald J. Trump’s nominee for secretary of the interior, has acknowledged one “glitch”: that he improperly billed the government for travel to his home in Montana when he was a midlevel SEAL Team 6 officer in the late 1990s. He had to repay $211 for one of two trips, he has said, maintaining that the episode did not derail what he described as a “brilliant” career.
But two retired admirals under whom Mr. Zinke served say his account understates the damage that it did. Mr. Zinke was in fact punished for abusing his travel expenses, they say, through an evaluation that prevented him from rising to senior levels in the Navy."
Christopher Drew and Sean D. Naylor report for the New York Times January 16, 2017.
SEE ALSO:
"Interior Nominee Familiar With Issues, But Worries Environmentalists" (NPR)
The confirmation hearing for Zinke before the Senate Environment Committee will be held today, Tuesday, January 17, at 2:15pm ET, and will be webcast live here.
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