Historic criminal referral made by the Committee on Natural Resources,

Arizona developer at the center of historic federal corruption investigation


Developer ngram and other Arizona donors allegedly gave nearly $250,000 to the Trump Victory Fund and the Republican National Committee in 2017 in exchange for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to change its position about a Clean Water Act permit for the developer's proposed 28,000 unit "Villages at Vigneto" development near the endangered San Pedro River.

The investigation allegedly uncovered other pieces of corruption evidence of a likely criminal quid pro quo between Trump administration Dept of Interioa officials, Bernhardt, and real estate developer Mike Ingram. including:

• Officials at FWS all maintained consensus about its legal position on the new community for more than a decade before it reversed that position.
• Ingram and 12 other Arizonans donated money to the Trump Victory Fund or the Republican National Committee on or near the same day. There were no other days in which more than three Arizonans donated $2,700 or more to the fund.
• On the same day as Ingram’s donation, the Trump administration announced it would re-evaluate Vigneto’s Clean Water Act permit.

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