Dirk Kempthorne Leaves Behind A Lovely Bathroom At Interior Department

When Dirk Kempthorne took over as Secretary of the Interior in May 2006, he was appalled by the state of the interior... of his office bathroom. You see, it had no shower, refrigerator or freezer, vital staples of any adequate executive loo. Kempthorne took care of that. Al Kamen of the Washington Post reports that, at a cost of only $235,000 to the taxpayers, Kempthorne had the missing appliances installed and had enough money left over for some nice monogrammed towels.

An investigation by the department's inspector general Earl Devaney cleared Kempthorne of wrongdoing because the General Services Administration approved and partially funded the project.

While Kempthorne was busy in his bathroom, his department was plagued by a massive scandal. According to a report from the AP last September, 13 former and current employees working in Denver and Washington that were tasked with handling billions of dollars in oil royalties allegedly rigged contracts, accepted gifts and even engaged in sexual relations with oil company employees.

Today in Boise, Idaho, Kempthorne touted reforms he's made to the department with a straight face.

Colorado Senator Ken Salazar has been appointed by Barack Obama to succeed Kempthorne. I guess they'll have to get some new towels.