Gale Norton - Ethics Investigations

Ethics Investigations

Norton resigned as Secretary of the Interior in March 2006, after the Interior Department's inspector general initiated an investigation into potential links between Norton's former deputy, J. Steven Griles and convicted felon Jack Abramoff. Norton was succeeded by Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne. At the time of her resignation, Norton was considered "the Bush administration's leading advocate for expanding oil and gas drilling and other industrial interests in the West." After Norton's resignation, she joined Royal Dutch Shell Oil company as a legal adviser in their oil-shale division.

On September 17, 2009 the United States Department of Justice opened an investigation into whether Norton's employment at Royal Dutch Shell violated a law that bars federal employees from discussing employment with a company if they are involved in decisions that could benefit that company. The investigation focused on a 2006 decision by Norton's agency to award oil shale leases to Royal Dutch Shell, an agreement potentially worth billions of dollars. In 2010, the Justice Department closed the criminal probe, declining to press charges. In a statement, Norton called the investigation a waste of money. Kris Kolesnik, an associate inspector general with the Interior Department defended the Justice Department's actions, however, saying "we appropriately and thoroughly investigated serious allegations."

During Norton's tenure, the Interior Department Inspector General also investigated Julie A. MacDonald, Norton's deputy assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. The investigation found that MacDonald had "injected herself personally and profoundly in a number of Endangered Species Act decisions." MacDonald resigned in 2007.