We reported earlier on the EPA rollback of auto emission standards. That announcement was scheduled to be made by administrator Scott Pruitt at a Virginia car dealership, that’s if Pruitt still has a job.
Bloomberg is reporting Pruitt spent his first six months in Washington living in a condo owned by the wife of a lobbyist. Pruitt paid $50 per night he stayed there. The lobbyist works for energy companies. Hello conflict of interest.
But wait, there’s more. Pruitt has had his hand slapped for frequent first class air travel. He didn’t ride in economy because he felt “threatened.” But it wasn’t just Pruitt flying in first, it was his security detail too. And now there are reports that Pruitt uses his 24/7 security detail on non-official business. According to CNN, his bodyguards accompanied his family on vacation trips to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl.
In a letter obtained by CNN, Pruitt allegedly used between two and three dozen different agents during a six week period.
JUST IN: EPA chief Scott Pruitt worked directly with top energy lobbyist to set up $50-a-night rental room in prime Capitol Hill building co-owned by the lobbyist’s wife, source tells @ABC. https://t.co/n6cDsnqozK pic.twitter.com/TzaYLQ3MSD
— ABC News (@ABC) March 30, 2018
Asking taxpayers to cover his first class flights and living in a luxury flat owned by lobbyists should be bad enough. But it’s his abject failure to protect our environment & confront climate change that should add Scott Pruitt to long list of former Trump officials. #BootPruitt https://t.co/hLEg6i9nIG
— Joe Kennedy III (@joekennedy) March 29, 2018
This is a serious violation of ethics law incl. 5 CFR 2635.202, Pruitt apparently had room on demand, yet paid below market rent and only for nights when he stayed there? Trump admin has broken so many laws they are more like a RICO conspiracy than a govmt https://t.co/1EQTB42mUG
— Norm Eisen (#TryingTrump out now!) (@NormEisen) March 30, 2018
Openly, brazenly corrupt. And when we inevitably find out Pruitt took some action to benefit the lobbyist’s clients, this will turn into a criminal investigation. https://t.co/leekItZblm
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) March 30, 2018
Scott Pruitt's lobbyist friend, incidentally, is an outside counsel for the National Rifle Association and works on the Russia controversy https://t.co/3GV99LXa3u
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) March 30, 2018