Over the last decade, Ryan Zinke has shown a pattern of pursuing business deals and political power at the same time – even when those roles sometimes conflict politi.co/2GxoCyQ 
Now, Zinke is under investigation for a business deal involving the chairman of Halliburton – an energy company he regulated as Interior secretary politi.co/2GxoCyQ
But the questions about Zinke’s ethics go back as far as 1999. A Navy report from that year (he was a SEAL for 23 years) said he experienced “lapses of judgement” after he billed the military for personal travel. politi.co/2GxoCyQ
In 2008, Zinke turned to politics. He was elected to the Montana state Senate as a moderate conservation-minded Republican who even won the support of traditionally Democrat-backing groups. politi.co/2GxoCyQ
But by 2012, Zinke was running for lieutenant governor on a ticket with hard-right candidate Neil Livingstone – marking Zinke’s rightward turn to position himself with the tea party politi.co/2GxoCyQ
By then, Zinke was on the board of numerous private companies and nonprofit foundations, and had established his own super PAC politi.co/2GxoCyQ
In Zinke’s last full year as a state senator, he was earning nearly $177,000 from five companies and sat on various foundations politi.co/2GxoCyQ
Zinke’s political profile continued to rise. He was elected to Congress in 2014 and raised millions of dollars for PACs. politi.co/2GxoCyQ
When Zinke joined the Trump administration in 2017, he prepared for the scrutiny of much tougher ethical guidelines by giving up control of his foundation and businesses politi.co/2GxoCyQ
But Zinke was still looking for opportunities to work privately with businesses – including taking a meeting with an exec at the energy company Halliburton. That kicked off an investigation into his behavior. politi.co/2GxoCyQ
After nearly 10 years, Zinke’s habit of mixing business and politics finally caught up to him. He’s resigning next month politi.co/2GxoCyQ
