Neighbors confused by man impersonating Interior Secretary at his home

Washington, D.C., neighbors of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke are increasingly befuddled Tuesday after a man staying in Zinke’s residence Monday evening claimed to be the secretary and reportedly called Park Police on a quizzical neighbor. A couple living next door to the rental house Zinke and his wife have leased since 2015 in Eastern Market, witnessed a peculiar scene Monday night when a 6-foot-tall unknown man in his 30s, whose black Mercedes SUV was idling outside their house for hours, said he was Zinke. The neighbors, Paul Legere and his wife, told The Washington Post that they knew the man was not who he said he was. When confronted, the man instead told them his name was “Scott,” and walked inside the Zinke residence refusing to provide a surname. Within an hour a number of U.S. Park Police (USPP) officers arrived at the residence, the neighbors said. Zinke’s security detail is provided by the Park Police. They believed the officers had specifically been called on them. An Interior spokesperson on Tuesday denied there was anything peculiar about the events at Zinke’s residence, saying the secretary had been home watching football and barbecuing with friends. The spokesperson said Park Police were called to investigate individuals making a disturbance out front. “Secretary Zinke and his friends were watching football and BBQing at home last night. Zinke called his security detail with concerns about a suspicious individual staking out his home and guests,” the spokesman said in a statement to The Hill...MORE