A former top Interior Department official paid a $31,500 settlement for allegedly violating conflict of interest rules, the agency’s Office of Inspector General revealed Friday in a summary report.
The OIG said investigators determined Casey Hammond, who served in the first Trump administration, appeared to have violated conflict of interest rules after he left the federal government. Hammond was Interior’s acting assistant secretary for lands and minerals and briefly served as director of the Bureau of Land management.
Investigators “substantiated” allegations that Hammond broke those rules when he contacted a BLM official on behalf of a client after leaving the Trump administration.
Danny Onorato, Hammond’s attorney, denied any misconduct by his client.
