The revelations being made by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard concerning former President Barack Obama and allegations in connection with the Russian collusion narrative confirm “what we all knew,” Rep. Ryan Zinke, who served as Secretary of the Interior during President Donald Trump’s first administration, told Newsmax on Thursday.

“You had national intelligence collection assets spying on the president-to-be in the case of Russian collusion, which led to an impeachment,” the Montana Republican said on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.”

“Then you had the national collection assets spying on the president of the United States,” he said. “That’s what the Ukrainian obstruction of justice [investigation] was all about. And you had national collection assets spying on a president when he left office. That’s what Mar-a-Lago is about.”

Such investigations into Trump, said Zinke, show “politicizing a branch of government,” not to mention spying on an opponent to “disable him to the degree you can.”

He commended Gabbard for doing a “great job,” adding that “we need to get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable for their actions.”

To that end, Zinke said he hopes Congress will work on reforms to the system, such as those that happened after the Watergate scandal.

“We need action on it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” said Zinke. “I think it goes right to the core of the Constitution and makes sure you faithfully do the duties of the office. So at the end of the day, I think we can come together on this and make sure no president abuses that power.”

Zinke also on Thursday discussed a Wall Street Journal report that said Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Donald Trump in May that his name is included in sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein’s files.

He commented that the growing scandal reminds him of the “Russian collusion” plot against Trump.

“I’ve talked to Pam Bondi,” he said. “The list, as I understand it, is a victim list. Remember, you have horrendous crimes with children.”

But just knowing someone is not a criminal act, he stressed.

“I understand the Trump administration asked the judge to intervene, take a look at what should be sealed and what is not sealed,” Zinke said. “And it just reminds me of the Russian collusion. There’s nothing there. I can assure you, with the president of the United States, that that would lead to any other conclusion than that he knew [Epstein].”

Finally, Zinke commented on a new executive order instructing the Interior Department to raise the cost of entrance fees to national parks for non-U.S. residents.

He noted that he’s introduced a bill to raise the prices at the parks as well for non-residents.

“Foreigners who don’t pay taxes, we’d love you to death to come to visit our parks, but when we go to visit your parks, the fees are in magnitudes higher,” said Zinke.

The money will ensure that bathrooms are clean, trails are maintained, and services remain available to the parks for the benefit and enjoyment of visitors, the congressman added.

“That’s why we have parks,” he said. “Let’s make sure our park experience is well-funded,” Zinke said.

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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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