Watchdog says govt blocking report on Trump-hurricane flap

WASHINGTON (AP) — A government watchdog says the Commerce Department is trying to block the findings of an investigation into the agency’s role in rebuking forecasters who contradicted President Donald Trump’s inaccurate claims about the path of Hurricane Dorian last year.

The accusation comes from Peggy Gustafson, the inspector general for the Commerce Department.

It’s the latest turn in a saga that led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to chastise government forecasters who contradicted the president after he posted inaccurate information about the expected path of the hurricane last year.

Trump later displayed a Sharpie-altered forecast map in the Oval Office to defend his inaccurate tweet.