Mar 8, 2018 4 min read

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Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke’s brief visit to Fredericktown last month is under scrutiny after two Democratic congressmen questioned whether his official trip was really an opportunity to campaign before the region’s upcoming special election.

Congressman Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the ranking member of the House Natural Resources committee, and Congressman Donald McEachin of Virginia, the ranking member of the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, asked the federal Office of Special Counsel to review Zinke’s Feb. 24 visit to the Mon Valley in which he announced $300.7 million in federal grants to reclaim abandoned coal mines nationwide.

The congressmen allege Zinke may have violated the Hatch Act that prohibits the use of taxpayer money for campaign purposes. A letter sent Wednesday to special counsel Henry Kerner states the secretary’s official visit to East Bethlehem Fire Department was about a mile from the boundary of the 18th Congressional District, where voters will select a new congressman in a hotly contested special election Tuesday.

“The motivation may have been to support the Republican candidate running in a special election in PA-18,” the letter states. “In this case, DOI appears to have initiated the event and chosen the location for the announcement.”

Republican candidate Rick Saccone, a state representative from Elizabeth, attended the event at which Zinke spoke for less than five minutes while presenting a ceremonial check and announcing that $55.7 million of the mine reclamation funds will be spent in Pennsylvania. The letter notes Democratic candidate Conor Lamb did not attend.

The congressmen cited the Observer-Reporter’s Feb. 25 story covering the event and a March 6 editorial that questioned the need for a “500-mile round trip for five minutes.” State Rep. Pam Snyder, D-Jefferson, whose district includes East Bethlehem, also said she was surprised by the nature of the trip.

“It probably wouldn’t be unusual if the secretary of the Interior came to Harrisburg, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia,” she told the Observer-Reporter at the event. “But to have the secretary in Fredericktown is unusual.”

Adam Sarvana, spokesman for the Democrats on the House Natural Resources committee, said that while Saccone’s attendance as a state representative might not be suspicious, it “wasn’t just an accident” that the trip was planned near the 18th Congressional District. He added all of the factors put together raise questions about the reason for Zinke’s visit.

“Each of these issues in isolation wouldn’t be enough to be concerned. He has a job representing his constituents,” Sarvana said. “But because (Zinke) had no reason to be in that part of Pennsylvania, or that part of the country for that matter, and because he showed up to announce these nationwide grants … it seems strange to consider it all a coincidence.”

A subsequent television interview Zinke did on Fox News that same day in which he discussed the special election also raised alarms, Sarvana said.

The congressmen’s letter notes the newspaper also reported there are 835 large coal refuse piles in Pennsylvania. The congressmen questioned why the event was held at a location one mile from the district less than three weeks before the special election. East Bethlehem Township officials wrote on their Facebook page they are receiving about $6 million to mitigate abandoned mine land in the township.

“The Department of the Interior requested to make this announcement in East Bethlehem Township of all places!” township officials wrote in the Feb. 28 post.

Township officials said the event was organized by the Interior Department and state Department of Environmental Protection. The post added that Interior officials asked other elected officials not speak at the announcement, nor residents and reporters be permitted to ask questions.

“The township requested that we publicize the ceremony so that any interested residents could attend and we were granted that request,” the township’s post reads.

The congressmen asked the special counsel to investigate how the trip was planned and whether federal workers intended it to be a quasi-campaign stop on behalf of Saccone.

“Only a full investigation can clarify whether Secretary Zinke violated the Hatch Act when traveling to the PA-18 boundaries to announce (abandoned mine land) funding,” the letter states.

Interior Department officials did not respond to a phone call seeking comment.