White House disavows Puerto Rico power contract

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The Trump administration scrambled Friday to distance itself from the decision to award a $300 million contract to help restore Puerto Rico’s power grid to a tiny Montana company from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s hometown.

The White House said federal officials played no role in the selection of Whitefish Energy Holdings by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

The administration disavowed the contract amid a growing number of investigations and a bipartisan chorus of criticism from Capitol Hill.

Trump spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Zinke had given the president his personal assurance that he had nothing to do with what she described as “a state and local decision made by the Puerto Rican authorities and not the federal government.”

The interior secretary also issued a fiery denial on Twitter, saying “Only in elitist Washington, D.C., would being from a small town be considered a crime.”

Whitefish Energy Holdings is headquartered in Whitefish, Mont., which has a population of about 7,200. Zinke, a former Montana congressman, knows Whitefish CEO Andy Techmanski. Zinke’s son also had a summer job at a Whitefish construction site.

“I had absolutely nothing to do with Whitefish Energy receiving a contract in Puerto Rico,” said Zinke in a statement linked to a tweet. “Any attempts by the dishonest media or political operatives to tie me to awarding or influencing any contract involving Whitefish are completely baseless.”

Zinke acknowledged that after the company’s initial contract was awarded, he was contacted by the company, though he did not give the name of the individual who reached out to him. Zinke said he took no action and that all relevant documents would be disclosed to “appropriate officials.”

“I welcome any and all investigations into these allegations,” Zinke said.

The Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general, an agency watchdog, confirmed Friday that federal auditors will review the Whitefish contract.