With Tooke’s Resignation, Scandal Continues To Burn U.S. Forest Service

"Months before U.S. Forest Service Chief Tony Tooke abruptly resigned, his superiors at the Agriculture Department were made aware of the scandal that brought an end to Tooke’s 30-year career.

As early as September, the office of Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) informed Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s office of a letter from a Forest Service retiree who wrote that Tooke wasn’t deserving of the post he was appointed to by Perdue the month before.

Isakson’s office confirmed its receipt of the letter Thursday, a day after Tooke tendered his immediate resignation following a “PBS NewsHour” report that he was under investigation for improper behavior. A spokeswoman for Isakson would not reveal the letter’s contents, but Energy and Environment News and the Daily Caller each reported that it claimed that Tooke offered a newly created staff position to a woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair when he worked at an office in Florida."

Darryl Fears reports for the Washington Post March 8, 2018.