VIP lodge a favorite stop for high- and low-level officials

Obama administration officials from the lower rungs of government, not just A-list figures like Vice President Joe Biden, have often used a vacation lodge in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park. Documents show that officials from the departments of the Interior and Justice, the National Park Service (NPS), the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) were scheduled to stay at the Brinkerhoff Lodge from 2011 into this year. Use of the remote historic two-story log cabin by government officials has attracted scrutiny from Capitol Hill as well as Interior's inspector general. Representatives of officials who stayed at the Brinkerhoff told Greenwire their time there was more for business than vacation. Who paid for their stay, however, varied among the officials -- NPS sometimes picked up the tab while others paid out of their own pockets. Some officials have seemingly used the lodge for personal time without being charged. That has led to several of them to pay back NPS months if not years after they first stayed at the Brinkerhoff. Time reported in October that bold-faced names in the administration had stayed at the lodge -- including Biden, former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar -- which triggered the review into the use of the facility (Greenwire, Oct. 29). Not mentioned in the report were the lower-level officials who had used the Brinkerhoff too. Biden's office has said the vice president will reimburse the park service for staying at the Brinkerhoff with a dozen family members this past August with a $1,200 check, according to Time...more

And the IG's report is yet to come.  Read the article and you'll see how they use the lodge to influence politicians.