Washington • Newly released records show Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spent more than $53,000 on three helicopter trips this summer, including one that allowed him to return to Washington in time for a horseback ride with Vice President Mike Pence.
Records released by the Interior Department show Zinke spent more than $39,000 on a July helicopter tour above two national monuments in Nevada. Zinke was considering whether to recommend downsizing the two sites.
He also spent $8,000 on a round-trip to an emergency management exercise in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, and $6,200 to and from Yorktown, Virginia, to tour a Revolutionary War battlefield and attend a boating industry roundtable. Zinke immediately went horseback riding with Pence and other officials after returning from Virginia.
The helicopter trips were first reported by Politico.
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