President Donald Trump's interior secretary took a personal jab at a Democratic lawmaker who called on him to resign over his assorted "ethical and managerial failings."
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), the ranking member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, called Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke unfit to serve Friday in a USA Today op-ed, and warned that the incoming Democratic majority would investigate his tenure.
"While the secretary continues to project confidence, questions have grown since the election about his future plans, and the White House reportedly fears that he would be unable to withstand scrutiny on Capitol Hill," Grijalva wrote. "Those fears are justified. Mr. Zinke has never even tried to offer an explanation for the sheer scope of his well-documented scandals."
Zinke, a former Republican congressman from Montana, responded with a personal shot against Grijalva on his official Twitter account.
"It's hard for him to think straight from the bottom of a bottle," Zinke tweeted. "This coming from a man who used nearly $50,000 in tax dollars as hush money to cover up his drunken and hostile behavior. He should resign and pay back the taxpayer for the hush money and the tens of thousands of dollars he forced my department to spend investigating unfounded allegations."
Grijalva, who acknowledged a drinking problem in 1985, reportedly paid $48,395 to a woman who accused him of being frequently drunk and creating a hostile work environment during the few months she worked with him.
The Washington Times reported the 2015 deal was structured as five months of extra pay as part of a severance package.
The lawmaker said he could not comment publicly on the settlement, which came out of the committee's operating budget, but said the matter did not involve sexual harassment.
“I do not attend work-related events drunk, and I have never created a hostile work environment in my offices — all of which is verifiable by those who work with me,” Grijala said.
