A senior official in the Donald Trump administration misused his office from private gains by using his government connections to help a family member obtain employment at the Environmental Protection Agency, investigators said in a report obtained by The Associated Press.

The Interior Department's Inspector General found that Assistant Interior Secretary Douglas Domenech reached out to a senior EPA official in person and later by email in 2017 to advocate for Domenech's son-in-law when he was seeking a job at the agency.

Investigators said Domenech also appeared to misuse his position to promote a second family member's wedding-related business to the same EPA official, who was engaged at the time.

AP obtained the damning report ahead of its public release.

This is the second finding of ethical violations in six months against Domenech. Investigators in December found that he broke federal ethics rules by twice meeting with his former employer, a conservative Texas-based policy group, to discuss legal disputes between the group and the agency.