We will update this post as more dirt surface .
Update 7/5/18 : Straight from the horse ’s mouth , scandal magnet and petroleum shillScott Pruitt is resigning . President Trump tweeted today that he has accepted Pruitt ’s surrender and that Deputy Administration Andrew Wheeler will be step up to fill Pruitt ’s shoes , which were presumptively purchased by an aide on the taxpayer ’s dime . ending of an era , military man .
Scott Pruitt is a busy mankind . He ’s precisely work to undermine U.S. climate policies and enforce rule privilege the industry he ’s suppose to be regulating from his perch as head of the Environmental Protection Agency . He has also managed to squeeze an overpowering number of deeply miry scandals into his myopic tenure . Some have been one - offs , while others have metastasized into uber scandals .
In an drive to catalog the mature hurricane of impropriety surrounding Pruitt , Earther has made you , dear reviewer and fan of politics answerability , a ready to hand list . None have been all - comprehend enough to get Pruitt fired — yet — but that may be because he ’s so honest at whathe was brought in to do . And let ’s not lose sight of that .
While the details of these scandals may hasten rage , they ’re only accouterment to Pruitt ’s systematic elbow grease todismantleenvironmentalregulationsdesigned toprotect human healthand the surround . They do n’t admit hisasinine vista on clime change , fill advisory boardswith industriousness insiders , or hisstupid clime science “ argument ” . Put it all together , and it ’s vindicated why there ’s afirst - of - its - kind campaign to oust him .
The round-the-clock security
In the first three month as EPA decision maker , Scott Pruitt racked up$832,735.40 in costsfor his24/7 surety particular . That ’s more than twice what his harbinger , Gina McCarthy and Lisa Jackson , spent in their first three months on the chore concord to E&E News , which adds up since Pruitt is the first EPA executive to ever request a lasting security item .
Of course Pruitt deserve to be protected , but his request have at times appeared excessive . According toa letter from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse ( D - R.I.)obtained by CNN , his detail travel with Pruitt to the Rose Bowl to check his darling Sooners get whupped , and Disneyland . During a six - week full point , Pruitt pulled up to 36 agents into protecting him , according to the alphabetic character . Those agents would commonly be working on cases involving pollution and EPA - touch crime .
I guess with the regulatory rollbacks , perchance there ’s less employment for them ?
The luxury travel
In an administration rife with luxury locomotion malicious gossip , Pruitt has still managed to tolerate out . He ’s made the American world pony up $ 160,000 for travel internationally , including to promote lifelike gas in Morocco , which is n’t even his chore . He ’s also regularly charged the publicthousands of dollars for first grade flightsacross the U.S. , including flight range from $ 1,172 up to $ 3,610 to wait on conferences put on by the fossil fuel and chemical industry , which again , he is suppose to regulating .
Pruitt has arrogate he has to take flight first grade because of “ a very toxic surroundings politically , particularly around issuing of the environment . ” Indeed , a fellow travelerreportedly approached himin an airport and tell apart him to “ you ’re fucking up the environment . ” Which to be fair , yes .
But rather than answer for his insurance choices to the public , he ’s decided to varnish himself off in first class . Oh , and his security detail often fly first class with him . 🙃
In other March , Pruitt saidhe would fly coach“on my very next flight of stairs . ” No word on subsequent flight .
Update : So yeah , about Scott Pruitt ’s Morocco trip . It cost $ 100,000 , more than twice what was antecedently describe . And it get even sketchier . The trip was organized by Richard Smotkin , a former Comcast lobbyist who has know Pruitt for “ about a tenner , ” harmonise to an exhaustive report from the Washington Post , which uncovered the new details . After the trip went off without a enlistment , the Moroccan government kicked Smotkin a 40,000 - a - calendar month contract to buttonhole on its behalf .
And the administrator ’s luxuriousness misstep to Italy to attend the G7 environmental ministerial meeting ? That ’s also get mirky by the moment . TheNew York Times reportedthat Leonard Leo , head of supremely bourgeois Federalist Society which Pruitt has verbalize in front of , helped coiffure parts of that trip . He also went along for a private Mass at the Vatican , and to a fancy dinner , including locomotion in Pruitt ’s motorcade ( no password on if they used the siren ) .
Both Smotkin and Leo apparently enjoy privileged status with Pruitt ’s EPA . If either call Mr. Pruitt ’s billet “ and asked for something , we did it , it does n’t count what it was , ” a former functionary told the Times .
The private jet
Sometimes first social class locomotion just is n’t luxurious , er safe , enough . Scott Pruitt ’s team explore the possibleness of leasing a private jet by the month at a price ofnearly $ 100,000 per monthaccording to a reportfrom the Washington Post . The idea nixed by advisor . Probably a effective call .
The sweetheart condo deal
If you think this count like graft , you ’re not alone . Democrats have asked the EPA ’s inspector world-wide toinvestigate the arrangementandRepublicans have called on Pruitt to step down . Even theWhite House has started an inquiry .
Update : It ’s getting even sketchier . The original letting Pruitt had list Steve Hart , the lobbyist , as the landlord . It was crossed out and his wife ’s name was inked inaccording to the AP , which viewed the documents . ( you’re able to see for yourself over at theWashington Post . )
Oh , and Pruitt frequently fell behind on his humongous $ 50 per night paymentsaccording to Politico .
Oh , and the EPA functionary who say it was above the instrument panel has now said , yeah , perhaps not so much .
Oh , and one more matter . Senator Barbara Boxer ( D - California ) lived in the condominium building at one point . She pronounce rent runs $ 5,000 so yeah , that $ 50 per night thing is a sweet sight . In aninterview with E&E News , she said , “ This is not a trivial narrative , this is a full - blow scandal . ”
The soundproof room
Nothing weird about a public officialinstalling a soundproof roomin his office at acost of $ 43,000 , especially when the EPA already has a secure room to discuss tender or classified matter .
Update : install it was n’t only sketchy , it was illegal . The Government answerableness Officereviewed the boothat the behest of Congressional Democrats and retrieve Pruitt violated not one , but two police force , because his John Wilkes Booth be well above the $ 5,000 limit on spot furniture and medal , and because he failed to notify Congress . In doing so , he violatedthe Antideficiency Act , which can be drive for removal from part , up two years in prison house , and $ 5,000 in fines ( do n’t hold up your breath ) .
The EPA had argued that the booth is “ analogous to other functional items an employee might demand to perform his chore duties such as a mellow speed estimator , high speeding copier / scanner , or television , ” which is a pretty weird case to make , but also , can we please get a undercover box at Gizmodo Media headquarters ?
Sweeping for bugs and installing biometric locks
Also totally normal tospend thou of dollarssweeping pronounce function for bugs and purchasing biometric locks .
Refusing to release his schedule
Pruitt ’s schedule has also been shrouded in privacy , again representing a breaking from his predecessors . tidings organizations have gotten copies of it through the Freedom of Information Act ( FOIA ) , and it ’s clear why Pruitt would require to keep it under wrap . His day are largely spentmeeting with manufacture representativesand travelingto and from his habitation in Oklahoma . He startedreleasing a docket late last year , due in part to an overwhelming number of FOIA requests .
Tons of unanswered FOIA requests
About those FOIA postulation . There havebeen a quite a little of them . The EPA see a 400 percent growth in FOIA requests last year compare to 2016 , allot to an analytic thinking by the Project on Government Oversight . That same psychoanalysis showed Pruitt ’s billet has been particularly slow to respond , with 83 percentage of case still open vs. 21 percent agency - widely .
Giving out $120,000 for press opposition research
Pruitt has for the most part avoided the press outside of friendly , conservative exit . But that has n’t stopped him from adjudicate to keep caterpillar track of journalists . His office sign a $ 120,000 no - bidding contractwith a firmwith a chairman bill as a “ a master of opposition research ” and elderly vice president who took part in a campaign to shape negatively charged opinions around Senator Elizabeth Warren through “ vituperative op - eds and online hot takes . ” The news show , first report by Mother Jones , and result firestorm around it cause the EPA to cancel the contract .
General press hostility
Even without an foeman research firm , Pruitt has for the most part fought against allowing the free pressing to cut through him . The EPA wardrobe officeattacked an AP journalistafter he reported on Superfund sites flooded in the Wake Island of Hurricane Harvey . And more late , CNN reports Pruitt attempted toonly allow Fox Newsto air his press group discussion on rolling back clean car rules .
Sketchy staffing
dribble down corruption is literal . The EPA has deed over a waiver to John Konkus , one of Pruitt ’s top aides , to freelance as a medium consultant . The agencywon’t say who his client are , though .
Pruitt also return two favor aids huge earnings bumps of $ 56,765 and $ 28 , 130 through a backdoor provision in the Safe Drinking Water Act after the White House told him not to . The Atlantic , whichfirst reported the raises , quoted an anon. EPA official as saying “ this whole affair has completely gutted any morales I had left to put up with this position . ” Which of course may just be the point .
Pre-EPA shadiness
It ’s not like malicious gossip is novel for Pruitt . In his persona as Oklahoma lawyer superior general , he used a secret email account toconduct state business , then lied about it in hisSenate confirmation listening .
And in a dirt that belike would ’ve disqualified Pruitt from being nominated in any other administration , he once took fogey fuel industriousness talking points about fracking andslapped them properly on Oklahoma state letterhead .
Devon Energy ’s response?“Outstanding ! ”
Using sirens to get to dinner
Pruitt reportedly asked EPA officials to utilise the femme fatale and flashing lights to expedite his travel through Washington , D.C. dealings , a perk normally only afforded the chairperson . This let in on trips to the airport ( where remember , he boarded first class flights ) and dinner party at Le Diplomate , which to be fair , hasfour stars and 2,351 reviews on Yelp . Sometimes you get hangry , I guess . And lest you think this was all necessary because he result more than enough prison term to get to dinner , theNew York Timesalso helpfully notes “ he often ran late . ”
Reassigning or demoting officials who told him “no”
Do not say to no to Scott Pruitt if you wish your job . During his sovereignty at the EPA , he has pushed at least five official away who have said no to things on this insane list of scandals you are reading . TheNew York Times has an thoroughgoing report , and the list includes his former headway of security measures who put the kibosh on the whole siren thing ( transfer ) , a Trump appointee who pushed back on the $ 100,000 private cat valium lease ( ask to resign ) , and another official who questioned other spending habits ( on leave ) . The whole Times write up is completely barmy and you should go read it now .
Bulletproof desk (wait wut?)
avowedly , there is a lot of gun violence in America . But after installing biometric locks and getting 24/7 protection , Pruitt did n’t feel dependable enough , so he seek to get a unshakable desk . Cost ( along with another desk outside his role ): $ 70,000 . Instead he had a settle for a stand - up desk ( engender ta keep it good for you ! ) and a sitting desk that “ employee gawked at the size and grandeur of … with some comparing it to the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office . ” Like I said , you ask to readthat Times story , which broke the news .
So many new things in a salacious letter
Kevin Chmielewsi , one of the staff member that Pruitt push away for call him out for his lavish outlay , spoke with five Congressional Democrats about his experience with the administrator because , in his own words , what ’s “ correct is proper , and wrong is wrong . ” The five Democrats sent letters to President Trump and Pruitt delineate what get out of those discussion . They corroborate much of what ’s in this situation and tally new details . You should seriouslyread themin their entireness .
The new details include allegations that the sketchy raises were “ 100 percent Pruitt himself , ” that the administrator frequently used the EPA as a change of location agent to book events in places he wanted to visit , and that he spent well over the sound terminus ad quem of $ 5,000 redecorating his office , including framing an 8×10 American flag . Oh , and that Pruitt allow one of his favored aide hold a first class just the ticket for the badly - fated Morocco trip for no reasonableness , and then tried to get it retroactively approved . When Chmielewsi — serving as the deputy tribal chief of faculty for operations — hold out sign off in hindsight , he said Pruitt ’s chief of staff asked him to resign or Pruitt would fire him . Oh , and Pruitt ’s chief of staff also allegedly tell Chmielewsi that “ the nightmare is now yours ” when he set off his position . Prescient .
Having three (yes, three!) secret EPA email accounts
The Trump campaign ? Very concerned about e-mail transparency . The Trump brass ? TheWashington Post reportsthat Scott Pruitt had multiple , unlisted electronic mail account . That raises concerns that email may have slipped through the cracks when answering Freedom of Information Act requests . The emails include[email protected]—a stock EPA score — as well as[email protected],[email protected]and[email protected ] . Because I dunno if you ’ve get word , but Pruitt loves him some University of Oklahoma sport .
Democrats are asking for a thorough review . I ’m sure Republicans , who nurture a ruckus over Obama ’s first EPA administrator having two accounts and made Hillary Clinton ’s emails a central part of the presidential race , will be down to get to the bottom of it .
Wanting an EPA office close to home…in Tulsa
Pruitt spends an inordinate amount of time travel to his home DoS of Oklahoma . So , why not just have an EPA office there ?
According to aletter that House Democratssent to the EPA and Government Services Administration , Pruitt directed his stave to look at opening an office in Tulsa despite the EPA already having a regional headquarters in Dallas . Specifications included “ a conference room , secure parking , would be able to reconcile 24/7 security , and include a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility ( SCIF ) for impregnable communications . ”
Seems a bit extreme . mayhap they could consider WeWork ?
Scott gets a legal defense fund
Being this mired in scandal is n’t cheap . Scott Pruitt ’s sound woefulness are mounting , and so of course the only manner to deal with them is paying out of his own sack . Kidding . It ’s fructify up aprivate sound defence fund , according to four the great unwashed who spoke anonymously to the New York Times .
“ This has add up up more often in this administration than in previous administrations , ” Robert Rizzi , an attorney specializing in government ethics , narrate the Times .
swampland position : never been fuller .
That time he asked an aide to buy a used mattress
It ’s tough to slumber well when you ’re busy pass over out environmental regulations . That ’s on the face of it why Pruitt asked a elderly aide to avail him find a used mattress from nowhere else but Trump International in Washington , D.C. according topartial transcriptsreleased by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee . Milan Hupp , who is Pruitt ’s scheduling manager , undertook the task of finding Pruitt a bed to sleep on as well as a home to put the seam after his $ 50 - per - night condo fell through . This may very well have violated federal ethics laws that bar officials from asking employees to do personal body of work , whether it ’s after work and bear or not . No word on if Pruitt got the mattress , what he paid for it , or why he was search for an old mattress in the first place . Justcheck The Inventory next clock time , man .
He tried to get his wife a Chick-Fil-A franchise
In addition to nonplus Pruitt a mattress , Sydney Hupp — Pruitt ’s scheduler and Millan ’s babe — also seek to assist Scott Pruitt get his wife Marlyn a gig with Chick - Fil - A. “ The Administrator would like to utter about a potential business enterprise opportunity , ” she spell in an email to the company ’s director of politics and regulatory affairs unearthed in a tranche the Sierra Club received via FOIA . That business organization opportunity was n’t for prescribed administration business , though . It was for Pruitt ’s wife .
According to a Chick - Fil - A spokesperson , she never terminate the lotion to open a enfranchisement , but again , regardless this is potential a intrusion of federal ethics law . But Pruitt ’s efforts to use his position to get his wife paid did n’t stop there . TheWashington Post reportshe also asked the chief executive of Concordia , a nonprofit that puts on fancy conferences , about potential exercise . Concordia ended up have Marlyn Pruitt aid put on their one-year conference and paid her $ 2,000 along with travel expenses according to the Matthew Swift , the executive director in head .
Update : He also had aides ask conservative donors to find his wife a job , according to areport from the Washington Post . She finally score a job at the Judicial Crisis web thanks to lobbying by Pruitt chum Leonard Leo , an executive vice president at the Federalist Society .
Making staff and security to help him live a life of luxury
I ’m at the age where I start to chafe about wrinkles . They happen , I get it on , but still I attempt to keep those crows feet away with a good moisturizer . So too , does Scott Pruitt . The difference is while I buy my own damn software from the local pharmacy , he muster in his $ 3.5 - million ( and counting ) security system squad to drive him around to adjudicate and find his favorite moisturizer from the Ritz - Carlton . That ’s according to a story from theWashington Post , which spoke with two someone conversant with these lotion runs . source also differentiate the newspaper Pruitt asked federal agent to blame up his dry cleaning for him , which is I ’m sure what they opine they ’d be doing when they signed up for a gig commonly reserved for pursue environmental criminal .
The security detail are n’t the only staff members Pruitt has apparently enlisted to help him keep up with the Joneses . Four sources toldthe Daily Beast revealedthe decision maker has aides go convey him bougie snacks from Dean and Deluca , with some notice that his demands are either “ frequent ” or “ constant . ” There is one region I will give Scott Pruitt a head , however : he has reportedly ask his aides to make him teem - over coffee , which is the only way of life to booze a hot cup of joe .
But there ’s no disagree with our admirer at Splinter ’s assessment of Pruitt : he ’s a yuppie bastard .
He helped his daughter score a White House internship and get into law school
There ’s no deny Scott Pruitt loves his family and using his business — specifically take Pluto to do the grunt work — to help oneself them get a leg up . There ’s the whole Chick - fil - A debacle but turn out he ’s about more than grade that homophobic chicken hookup . Aswath of new revelationsin the New York Times shows he take aides to help his daughter seduce a honored White House internship .
“ We were constantly fielding requests like this , even though this had nothing to do with running the EPA , ” Kevin Chmielewski , Pruitt ’s former deputy sheriff chief of staff , told the paper .
The Times also reports that Pruitt reach out to the former speaker of the Virginia House to spell a letter plump for his girl getting into the University of Virginia . Meritocracy !
It’s a sports scandal now
I never thought I would live to see Scott Pruitt make Deadspin , buthere we are . Did you know Scott Pruitt is from Oklahoma ? He is ! He loves his Sooner . We already knew he went to go watch them in the Rose Bowl last class with his security detail in towage , but we now know he paid brass note value for primo fanny on the 50 yard line mere days before the game , accord to documentsobtained by the New York Times . Tickets on the resale market were going for seven times the Mary Leontyne Price he compensate .
He seduce the tickets through Renzi Stone , a University of Oklahoma regent who also runs a market house that the Times say deal “ with energy industry clients that admit the American Petroleum Institute and GE Oil and Gas . ” The Sooner lost 54 - 48 in overtime , so I think Pruitt convey his money ’s worth ?
Pruitt also had aides score him access to batten practice at a Washington Nationals ’ plot on July 5 last twelvemonth . That secret plan was prorogue due to weather . He did get to go to see the Nats on September 28 along with his married woman and head of staff for liberal thanks to Utah Governor Gary Herbert . They discuss Superfund issues apparently . The Nats advance 5 - 4 .
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