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$124,000
The EPA’s inspector general recommended recovering nearly $124,000 in improper travel expenses by former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, the Washington Post reports. “The findings, issued nearly a year after Pruitt resigned amid controversy over his spending, travel and ties to lobbyists and outside groups, highlight the fiscal impact of his penchant for high-end travel and accommodations.”
“It is extremely difficult for me to cease serving you in this role first because I count it a blessing to be serving you in any capacity, but also, because of the transformative work that is occurring. However, the unrelenting attacks on me personally and my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us.”
— Excerpt from Scott Pruitt’s resignation letter to Donald Trump published by Fox News.
“He is about as swampy as you get here in Washington, D.C., and if the president wants to drain the swamp, he needs to take a look at his own cabinet.”
— Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), blasting allegations of ethical misconduct by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, Bloomberg reports. “Pruitt’s tenure at the Environmental Protection Agency is under intensifying scrutiny, with at least 10 federal investigations probing his $50-per-night rental of a bedroom in a Capitol Hill condominium from a lobbyist, his frequent taxpayer-funded travel and his spending decisions.”
$45,000
“Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, under fire from lawmakers for travel and security expenses, spent about $45,000 in government money to fly five people to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled,” Reuters reports. “Two of his aides and three security agents flew to Australia last August on business-class tickets costing roughly $9,000 each to set up meetings for the EPA administrator.”
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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt “has used four separate agency email addresses since taking office, according to Senate Democrats and an EPA official, prompting concerns among agency lawyers that the EPA has not disclosed all the documents it would normally release to the public under federal records requests,” the Washington Post reports.
“I think there’s assumptions made that because the climate is warming, that that necessarily is a bad thing.”
— EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, in an interview with KSNV-TV, doubting if rising global temperatures are actually harmful to humans. He also suggested that global warming could be seen as a good thing for people, adding that civilizations tend to flourish when it’s warm.
