With all of Washington, D.C.'s political intrigue -- the commercialization of the White House, the administration's mysterious connections to Russia, and President Trump's ability to be both landlord and tenant on a government property -- why is U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz so curious about the planning and forethought that goes into a Twitter tweet?
No, the Utah Republican is not sifting through the president's Twitter feed. Rather, his attention was caught by a seemingly innocuous tweet from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where the staff was thrilled on December 29 to welcome the country's two new national monuments, Gold Butte in Nevada and Bears Ears in Utah.
Was that tweet simply a spur-of-the-moment shout-out, as many tweets are, or did the park staff have advance notice of the designations by President Obama? And if they did, wonders Congressman Chaffetz, how much advance notice?
We're not talking state secrets here. But hey, none of the other national parks in Utah tweeted the news on December 29, although the Traveler did the day before, when the announcements were made. And while the writing was clearly on the wall regarding the new monuments, we didn't get advance word.
The issue with Rep. Chaffetz is that this tweet could be evidence that the Obama White House lied to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert when it wrote him to say that as of December 15 "no decision had been made about Bears Ears."
Could it be that the White House really was planning as of December 15 to designate those two monuments, as it did on December 28, and that Bryce Canyon officials were in the loop?
"When was a Bears Ears map slot created in the Bryce Canyon National Park's front desk national parks and monuments map area?" Rep. Chaffetz wrote to acting Bryce Canyon Superintendent Sue Fritzke on January 19 (attached below).
"Who made the decision to create a Bears Ears map slot in the Bryce Canyon National Park's front desk national parks and monuments map area," he added in a follow-up question.
Finally, the congressman wondered, "(W)hen did you become aware of the Bears Ears National Monument designation and from whom?"
Bryce Canyon's celebratory tweet, Rep. Chaffetz explained in his letter, "created the appearance that officials at Bryce Canyon coordinated with the White House prior to this most recent designation."
Beyond being curious about the map slot for the new monuments, the committee chairman asked the superintendent to "identify any employees of Bryce Canyon National Park consulted regarding the Bears Ears National Monument Designation. For each employee, identify the communications, that is, when did those conversations occur and with whom?"
Why is Rep. Chaffetz, who has issues of national security to investigate, so concerned about Bryce Canyon's tweeting habits? True, the designation of Bears Ears National Monument went against plans that the congressman and his fellow Utah Republican, Rob Bishop, had for the landscape involved.
But polling shows Utahns were in favor (47+ percent for and 32 percent against) the Bears Ears designation, and a strong majority (60 percent) have no interest in seeing monuments decommissioned. And Rep. Chaffetz made a quick reversal last month when legislation he drafted to transfer 3 million acres of federal lands to the states was soundly criticized by hunters and anglers.
At day's end, we'd like to think taxpayer dollars could be better spent than on investigating a harmless 24-word tweet.
Comments
lee, draw us a district that would have had Chaffetz lose. I suspect it would make a checkerboard proud.
Lee -- is the story true that I read, that the initial gerrymandering to Chaffitz' benefit was redrawing the lines so that he actually residedin his district?
I have worked for the Trinity National Forest as a cartographer. I can tell you that our department was one of the first to be notified when anything "new" was being added before any announcements.
Additionally, I have visited these areas and the only reason this politician would have any interest in these areas is personal gain. I do not reside in Utah, but it is my opinion that this man has no intetest in protecting the land or its people.
Rick, that is just one small part of it all. But yes, the lines were redrawn to include him in the district. But there is no law -- at least in Utah -- requiring a member of Congress to live in the district they represent.
Repeated attempts to require that drawing of district maps every ten years be done by a non-partisan committee have been shot down time and again.
The only hope we have is convincing apathetic voters that their votes don't count only when they fail to vote (Unless it's because they've been disenfranchised by the Electoral College . . . but that's another story in itself).
Chaffetz is a world-class waffler, whose congressional oversight committee only investigates cases which fit his ideological agenda. He was an embarassment when supposedly offended by the Billy Bush tape, quoted as unable to vote for Donald Trump for President because of moral turpitude. He reversed himself and voted for Trump anyway. This session of Congress, he introduced 2 bills. One would have transferred millions of acres of BLM administered Public Land to the States, presumably to be sold off to developers. That bill was withdrawn after protests from sportsman groups. He introduced another bill to abolish the law enforcement programs of the U.S. Forest Service and the BLM. He would transfer federal money to County Sheriff's Departments to patrol the Public Lands. Unfortunately, many of these rural sheriffs departments are in cahoots with resource violators, which would underemine effective law enforcement on the public lands.
The first paragraph of this is nothing but fake news. None of it is true.
zb39 --- your allegation is what the party line says. Unfortunately for you guys, the majority of the citizens of the nation disagree with you. Is this a great nation or what?
It is a great nation, always has been. Which is why I spent 6 1/2 years flying jets for the USAF. 1500 hours of jet time and 58 combat missions. Of course I'm a little older now and prefer to just visit all the NP in my RV.