10 Scandals That Ultimately Booted Pruitt

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Byย Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Reposted with permission from EcoWatch.

When Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headย Scott Pruittย resignedย his position Thursday, he explainedย in a letterย to Presidentย Donald Trumpย that he was stepping down because โ€œthe unrelenting attacks on [him] personally, [and his] family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizeable toll on all ofย [them].โ€

What he didn’t mention was that he is also subject to more than a dozen federal ethics investigations, due to an โ€œunprecedentedโ€ list of scandals that came to light during his nearly 17 months in office. All investigations will continue despite his departure,ย The New York Times reported Thursday.

No one knows which, if any, of these scandals finally persuaded Pruitt to call it quits, but, as America bids Pruitt goodbye, here is a look back at 10 of his most corruptย actions.

1. He Cost the EPA Millions For Security: In October 2017, Pruitt already had a security team three times the size of his predecessors’ when heย upped itย from 18 to 30 bodyguards. At the time, it was estimated this would cost the EPA $2 million a year just for salaries. The total cost, including travel, was closer to $3 million,ย The Huffington Post reported. Perhaps the EPA‘s strangest security expenditure during Pruitt’s tenure was the $2,749.62 spent on โ€œtactical polosโ€ and โ€œtactical pants,โ€ whichย The Interceptย uncovered lastย month.

2. He Spent $90,000 in Tax Dollars on Travel in Just Two Weeks: Pruitt had a โ€œblanket waiverโ€ย to fly first classย on the taxpayer dime until he started flying coach this year. Almost a year ago, theย Environmental Integrity Projectย revealedย that Pruitt had charged taxpayers $12,000 for frequent flights back to his home state of Oklahoma in the spring of 2017. Then, in one particularly egregious example, he and his aides spentย at least $90,000ย on first class or military flights during just two weeks of June 2017 while traveling to promote the president’sย agenda.

3. He Wasted Taxpayer Money on Bizarre Office Luxuries: Reports first surfaced in September 2017 that Pruitt would spendย $25,000ย to install a soundproof phone booth in his office. That booth ended upย costing $43,000, and it wasn’t the only strange item he bought himself on the taxpayer’s dime. Those included biometric office locks for $5,700, fountain pens for $1,500 and fancy journals for $16,000, according to The Huffingtonย Post.

4. He Hired A Conservative Attack Group to Help with Media Coverage: In December of 2017,ย news brokeย that Pruitt’s EPA had hiredย Definers Public Affairs, a group linked with campaigns to stalk and harass environmental activists and journalists, to help the EPA craft its media coverage. The $120,000 no-bid contract was canceled after the story broke, The Huffington Postย reported.

5. He Rented a Condo from an Energy Lobbyist’s Wife: In the scandal that many thought would be his last,ย Pruitt rented a DC condoย at the below-market-rate of $50 a night from the wife of energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart. At the time, Pruitt and Hart insisted there was nothing unethical about the arrangement, butย emails obtainedย by theย Sierra Clubย showed that Hart did lobby the EPA during and after Pruitt’s stay in the familyย digs.

6. He Penalized Staffers who Spoke Out: The New York Times reported in Aprilย that Pruitt demotedย or reassigned at least five staffers who had questioned him on decisions ranging from his desire for a $70,000 desk upgrade or his policy of using sirens and flashing lights when late for dinner in DC.

7. He Asked his Staff to Go Far Above and Beyond: In aย Senate hearing in May, Pruitt admitted that one of his employees had worked for free trying to find him a place to live when he first arrived in DC, something Democratic Senators said broke the law, since free labor constitutes a gift and federal officials are not allowed to receive gifts of over $10 from employees. Pruitt also sent staffers on snack runs and asked them track down an old mattress from the Trump International Hotel in DC, according to The Huffington Post. Last week, employees came forward saying he would ask them to put hotel reservations on their personal credit cards, failing to pay them back in at least one instance,ย The Washington Post reported.

8. He Used His Position to Help His Wife’s Career: In another example of making inappropriate demands of staff, he asked his scheduler toย set up a meetingย with Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy about acquiring a restaurant franchise for his wife. The meeting never ended up taking place, but Pruitt also asked senior EPA administrator Samantha Dravis to find his wife a job that paid at least $200,000 a year,ย The Guardian reported.

9. He Hobnobbed with the Industries He Was in Charge of Regulating: In June, The New York Times reported that Pruittย had attendedย a University of Kentucky basketball game in front-and-center seats belonging toย coalย billionaire Joseph W. Craft III, with whom Pruitt had met at least seven times during his first 14 months at the EPA. There are also ongoing federal investigations into Pruitt’s meeting with theย National Mining Associationand his appearanceย in a National Cattlemen’s Beef Association video, The New York Timesย reported.

10. He Knew He Was Doing Wrong: Two days before Pruitt’s resignation,ย CNN reportedย that an EPA whistleblower said that Pruitt and his aides kept a secret calendar for possibly controversial meetings with industry officials and others, a practice that would violate federal laws against โ€œfalsifyingโ€ or hiding public records. Two Democratic congresspeople had called on the EPA inspector general to investigate the claim the same day that Pruitt tendered his resignation,ย CNN further reported.

Main image: Scott Pruitt at the 2018 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Credit: Zach D. Roberts forย DeSmog

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