With all of Washington, D.C.'s political intrigue -- the commercialization of the White House, the administration's mysterious connections to Russia, and President Trump's ability to be both landlord and tenant on a government property -- why is U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz so curious about the planning and forethought that goes into a Twitter tweet?

No, the Utah Republican is not sifting through the president's Twitter feed. Rather, his attention was caught by a seemingly innocuous tweet from Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, where the staff was thrilled on December 29 to welcome the country's two new national monuments, Gold Butte in Nevada and Bears Ears in Utah.

Was that tweet simply a spur-of-the-moment shout-out, as many tweets are, or did the park staff have advance notice of the designations by President Obama? And if they did, wonders Congressman Chaffetz, how much advance notice?

We're not talking state secrets here. But hey, none of the other national parks in Utah tweeted the news on December 29, although the Traveler did the day before, when the announcements were made. And while the writing was clearly on the wall regarding the new monuments, we didn't get advance word.

The issue with Rep. Chaffetz is that this tweet could be evidence that the Obama White House lied to Utah Gov. Gary Herbert when it wrote him to say that as of December 15 "no decision had been made about Bears Ears."

Could it be that the White House really was planning as of December 15 to designate those two monuments, as it did on December 28, and that Bryce Canyon officials were in the loop?

"When was a Bears Ears map slot created in the Bryce Canyon National Park's front desk national parks and monuments map area?" Rep. Chaffetz wrote to acting Bryce Canyon Superintendent Sue Fritzke on January 19 (attached below). 

"Who made the decision to create a Bears Ears map slot in the Bryce Canyon National Park's front desk national parks and monuments map area," he added in a follow-up question.

Finally, the congressman wondered, "(W)hen did you become aware of the Bears Ears National Monument designation and from whom?"

Bryce Canyon's celebratory tweet, Rep. Chaffetz explained in his letter, "created the appearance that officials at Bryce Canyon coordinated with the White House prior to this most recent designation."

Beyond being curious about the map slot for the new monuments, the committee chairman asked the superintendent to "identify any employees of Bryce Canyon National Park consulted regarding the Bears Ears National Monument Designation. For each employee, identify the communications, that is, when did those conversations occur and with whom?"

Why is Rep. Chaffetz, who has issues of national security to investigate, so concerned about Bryce Canyon's tweeting habits? True, the designation of Bears Ears National Monument went against plans that the congressman and his fellow Utah Republican, Rob Bishop, had for the landscape involved.

But polling shows Utahns were in favor (47+ percent for and 32 percent against) the Bears Ears designation, and a strong majority (60 percent) have no interest in seeing monuments decommissioned. And Rep. Chaffetz made a quick reversal last month when legislation he drafted to transfer 3 million acres of federal lands to the states was soundly criticized by hunters and anglers.

At day's end, we'd like to think taxpayer dollars could be better spent than on investigating a harmless 24-word tweet.