California congressman pressured Yosemite National Park for July 4 access, emails say

Rep. TJ Cox tried to bypass Yosemite National Park’s lottery for vehicle permits over a holiday weekend, and when he wasn’t selected, he used his office to push the National Park Service to grant him tickets, according to internal National Park Service emails.

Cox, D-Fresno, requested — and eventually received — tickets for two cars to enter Yosemite on July 4.

Now, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, who heads the House Western Caucus, is asking the Department of the Interior to provide evidence that Cox was at Yosemite in an official capacity and not for personal reasons.

Cox’s campaign called Gosar’s letter, first published by the Washington Examiner, a “meritless partisan attack,” but did not specify what Gosar said that was false.

Yosemite National Park has restricted access because of the coroanvirus outbreak, distributing just a few hundred vehicle passes each day to the public, which are given out based on a lottery system.

National Park Service employees directed Cox, in an email to his staff on July 1, to apply for passes through the lottery system, according to internal National Park Service emails sent to the House Committee on Natural Resources and published Gosar.

Cox’s staff then added Cox’s personal email to their response, “to shed light on the purpose of the visit.” Cox scheduled a phone call with Teri Austin, the deputy superintendent of Yosemite, for July 2.

Austin asked for ethics guidance from the National Park Service before the call, according to the emails.

“Rep. TJ Cox has requested passes for 2 cars for entry to Yosemite on July 4. This is a personal outing. Passes are being distributed by lottery that day, and the Park has said no to his request but told him how to apply. The Congressman is calling the Yosemite Deputy Superintendent on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. to press his request,” Melissa Kuckro, the deputy assistant director for legislative and congressional affairs at NPS, summed up in an email.

“Attached is the (Department of Interior) Ethics Guide,” she continued. “It does not address the situation, but see page 4, Foundations for Ethical Behavior: ‘You shall act impartially and not give preferential treatment to any private organization or individual.’”

Associate Ethics Counselor for the National Park Service Matthew Bigelow agreed with the assessment that Cox should not receive any preferential treatment and should only be given the tickets if it’s “reasonably related to a statutorily authorized purpose.”

The published internal email chain ended with Austin thanking officials for their guidance before her phone call with Cox. But Cox did receive the July 4 tickets, according to a letter sent by Rep. Gosar to the top investigative officials at the Department of the Interior.

“Subsequent telephone interviews with Yosemite Park Service staff indicate that Representative Cox’s call resulted in pressuring the National Park Service staff to change the request from personal to professional and grant him passes,” Gosar wrote. “National Park Service staff indicate this was done due to his status as a member of the Natural Resources Committee and to film a video to accompany the Great American Outdoors Act.”

Cox is a cosponsor of the Great American Outdoors Act, a law President Donald Trump signed on Monday providing funding for deferred maintenance in national parks.

But none of Cox’s official pages, like his congressional website or official Twitter or Facebook accounts, show a video or pictures from Yosemite after July 4. When McClatchy asked Cox’s staff to provide any information about a video, they didn’t respond.

“This is a meritless partisan attack by the Trump Administration and other desperate Republicans.” said Amanda Sands, Cox’s campaign manager. She did not respond to further questions.

Gosar asked the Department of the Interior to provide “any additional correspondence between National Park Service personnel and Representative Cox’s that would clearly justify the granting of preferential treatment for vehicle entrance passes during the extremely busy 4th of July period.”

He said that could include “official activities that Park Service personnel engaged in with Rep. Cox during the weekend, specific tour sites and any other engagement between Park Service personnel and the official Cox delegation visiting the Park.”