The hits just keep coming for Donald Trump.

In what may be the two worst weeks he has had since leaving office, his presidential hopes took another blow.

The Inspector General for the Interior Department has found that former Secretary Zinke broke ethics rules during his time at the post.

Another Charge

Ever since Trump left office, it was pretty clear he still had significant support.

His supporters are die-hard followers, and they made it quite clear that they would re-elect him in 2024 if he were on the ticket.

I have stated many times that the only thing really stopping Trump from winning the nomination would be his legal problems.

Trump has taken some hits on that front over the last two weeks, and he has another one to contend with now.

ON WEDNESDAY, the IG report that was released found that Zinke “failed to abide by his obligations” and “misused his public office for private gain.”

Zinke, who is now running for a congressional seat, resigned from the Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation when he was confirmed as Secretary.

At the time, he pledged that he would not “personally and substantially” participate in any matters related to the foundation.

According to the report, that was not the case for a project called the 95 Karrow.

The IG found 64 emails and text messages related to the project after Zinke was at his post.

The report also cited Zinke was using Interior Department staff to arrange meetings.

He also allegedly held at least one in-person meeting at his office with developers, as well as leading a tour of the Lincoln Memorial and a post-event dinner.

Zinke says he was only meeting the developers on a personal level, but even that was against his pledge.

The IG office says even that was not the case, though, stating the communications it captured showed that “Secretary Zinke repeatedly communicated with the developers of the 95 Karrow project and negotiated with them on behalf of the Foundation by discussing the use of Foundation property for the project, specific design aspects of the project, and the development of a microbrewery.”

This may not have been Trump, but it is something that occurred on his watch, and it will be used against him.

Slowly but surely, Democrats are building up a bank of hits against Trump that may not stop him from winning the nomination, but it will surely hurt him in a general election, which is all Democrats are worried about.

This is becoming a concern for the GOP, as there are now whispers the powers that be in the party are huddling, trying to figure out how to proceed on the Trump front if these legal issues continue to arise.

Source: The Hill