Watchdog clears park service in inauguration disputes
WASHINGTON — An internal watchdog has found no wrongdoing by the National Park Service in a dispute over crowd size at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
An unidentified person complained that a senior park service official had instructed employees to alter records related to crowd size for the inauguration. A separate complaint alleged that officials leaked information to the news media about a phone call the day after the inauguration from Trump to Michael Reynolds, the acting park service director.
The Interior Department’s office of inspector general said Tuesday it found no evidence to substantiate either complaint.
Trump has claimed that up to 1.5 million people attended the inauguration at the Capitol and National Mall, but park service photographs refute that notion. Trump called Reynolds Jan. 21 to dispute park service photos that he said underrepresented the crowd size at his inaugural.