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Who is Scott Pruitt?
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mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:09 pm    Post subject: Who is Scott Pruitt? Reply with quote

Trump is surprised that he has hired yet another entitled and ethically challenged white male?

Quote:
By Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey April 6

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt fought for his job Thursday, facing a new barrage of allegations about issues ranging from his past housing arrangement and first-class travel to the reassignment of senior staff who criticized how he was spending taxpayer funds.

Even as President Trump repeatedly expressed his support for Pruitt in public, top White House aides began to escalate their disapproval, suggesting the administrator has mischaracterized his role in boosting the salaries of two employees. On Thursday evening, three administration officials confirmed that Pruitt endorsed the idea last month of giving substantial raises to senior counsel Sarah Greenwalt and scheduling and advance director Millan Hupp — although he did not carry out the pay raise himself.

And Pruitt’s decision to ignore White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly’s warnings to be more cautious about giving public interviews only complicated his standing with many of Trump’s key aides.

Those officials’ sense of unease continued to escalate over the course of a single day, after the EPA’s lead ethics official issued a memo saying that he lacked important facts when he concluded that Pruitt’s rental lease with a lobbyist last year did not violate federal gift rules. It also emerged that Pruitt was late with some of his rent payments for a room in that Capitol Hill condo.

A White House spokesman offered Pruitt little reassurance. “We all serve at the pleasure of the president,” Hogan Gidley told reporters Thursday. “You guys know that. And when he’s not pleased, you’ll know it.”

Trump has resisted calls to oust Pruitt but has complained privately about the EPA chief for days, advisers said.

Publicly, however, the president went out of his way to praise Pruitt. Making a rare appearance in the press cabin of Air Force One on a return flight from West Virginia on Thursday, Trump remarked, “He’s been very courageous . . . I can tell you at EPA he’s done a fantastic job.”

Pruitt traveled to the state where he grew up to meet with Kentucky air-quality regulators, business leaders and elected officials, saying in a statement that the EPA “continues its work to enhance both environmental protections and economic growth.”


At EPA headquarters, top aides strategized about how to protect Pruitt’s job even as they put the final touches on an executive order that would change the way the federal government ensures that states are meeting national air pollution standards.

In a sign of Pruitt’s split-screen existence, according to administration officials briefed on the matter, Trump on Friday plans to sign the directive expediting air- quality permits. Yet the White House canceled an announcement event where the two were to appear together.

Several congressional Republicans, as well as some governors, conservative groups and pundits, rallied to Pruitt’s side. Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas both publicly backed him Thursday, as did governors Matt Bevin (Ky.), Phil Bryant (Miss.) and Pete Ricketts (Neb.). Bevin tweeted that the administrator should “ignore the nattering nabobs of negativism,” invoking a phrase that Vice President Spiro T. Agnew used in 1969 while blasting the media.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh delivered an on-air defense of Pruitt, and groups such as FreedomWorks and the Federalist Society expressed their support.


Still, the sharp focus on Pruitt’s housing arrangement, his premium-class travel both domestically and abroad and those aides’ raises has only further roiled an inner circle already under stress.

Samantha Dravis, a longtime adviser who serves as senior counsel and associate administrator in the EPA’s Office of Policy, submitted her resignation last week to work in the private sector. Her decision to leave is unrelated to Pruitt’s recent ethics woes, according to several agency officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter. But it comes at a time when Pruitt is relying on an increasingly narrow set of advisers to navigate decision-making.

The Washington Post confirmed that three EPA officials — Kevin Chmielewski, former deputy chief of staff for operations; John E. Reeder, former deputy chief of staff; and Special Agent Eric Weese — left or were reassigned after raising concerns about how Pruitt and his deputies operated. Chmielewski is on leave without pay, Reeder is on an “executive in residence” fellowship at American University, and Weese is no longer the head of Pruitt’s security detail.


Weese could not be reached for comment; Chmielewski and Reeder have declined to comment. Reeder is the husband of a Washington Post reporter, Carol Leonnig.

The staff moves were first reported by the New York Times, which also named two other individuals sidelined or forced to take leave after questioning how money was being spent at the EPA. In an emailed statement Thursday, agency spokesman Jahan Wilcox called them “a group of disgruntled employees who have either been dismissed or reassigned.”

Pruitt spoke at length during a Fox News interview about his role in Greenwalt and Hupp getting raises of 52 percent and 33 percent respectively under an unusual maneuver involving their reappointment through a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

In the interview Wednesday, Pruitt implied he was not involved in those decisions.

“I found out this yesterday and I corrected the action, and we are in the process of finding out how it took place and correcting that going forward,” he told correspondent Ed Henry.

Wilcox stressed in a statement Friday that Pruitt “does not know the details of staff salary nor does he make those kinds of personnel actions. … He was not aware the raises had transpired nor the means by which they transpired.”

But two EPA officials and a White House official told The Post that the administrator instructed staff to award substantial pay boosts to both women, who had worked in different roles for him in Oklahoma.

Questions surrounding Pruitt’s public account of his management decisions have been sharpened by recent revelations about his unusual rental arrangement last year.

The lease provided for the use of a single room, stating that “all other space is controlled by the landlord.” But several EPA officials have confirmed that Pruitt’s adult daughter stayed in a second bedroom for a period when she was working at the White House.

Kevin Minoli, the EPA’s principal deputy general counsel, had written in a March 30 memo that Pruitt’s lease with condo co-owner Vicki Hart — for $50 a night, charged only when he stayed there — did not constitute a gift because that rate for 30 consecutive days would have equated to a monthly rent of $1,500. Minoli described that as “a reasonable market value.”

Yet in a new memo, which was obtained by the Campaign Legal Center and first reported by CNN, Minoli emphasized that he evaluated the terms of the lease only and not activities the document did not cover.

“Some have raised questions whether the actual use of the space was consistent with the terms of the lease,” Minoli wrote. “Evaluating those questions would have required factual information that was not before us and the Review does not address those questions.”

He also clarified that he did not examine whether Pruitt’s arrangement violated the impartiality rule, which would have prohibited the administrator from having any dealings with other employees at Vicki Hart’s lobbying firm.

Separately, Minoli’s colleague, Justina Fugh, a senior ethics attorney and agency veteran, said she learned of Pruitt’s unusual housing arrangement late last week when political aides called her while she was at the movies, told her the outlines of the lease and asked her for a quick ruling. She initially gave her approval based on the specifics they shared. Only later did she learn other details from news reports.

“What they gave me was not the full picture . . . I was just too credulous,” Fugh said Thursday. “Advice that’s given by an ethics official is only as good as the information that’s provided.”

The rental deal has come under intense scrutiny because Hart’s husband, J. Steven Hart, is chairman of the firm Williams & Jensen, which lobbies on energy issues along with other matters. He told The Post last week that he “had no lobbying contact with EPA in 2017 or 2018” and referred to Pruitt as a “casual friend” with whom he has had little contact. In recent interviews, however, Pruitt has described Hart as someone he has known for years.

A copy of the lease, attached to Minoli’s most recent memo, showed that Steven Hart’s name had been scribbled out as the legal representative and his wife’s name handwritten in. According to a senior administration official, Vicki Hart made the change.

Despite the favorable $50-a-night rate he was receiving on the Capitol Hill condo, Pruitt still fell behind on his rent, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Vicki Hart, who served as Pruitt’s landlord and is wife of energy and transportation lobbyist Steve Hart, was at times forced to remind him that rent payments were due, these people said.


The money that Pruitt used to hire his cronies came from the Clean Drinking Water Act funds authorized in the wake of the Flint Michigan scandal. That's right, why spend money cleaning up the drinking water--contaminated by Republican budget cutting--when you can hire non-scientists for Pruitt to continue to dismantle health protections.
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mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Imagine that, there is more. The two given raises were part of Pruitt's "posse". No background in science, the environment or public health. But hey, a background in hospitality qualifies you to destroy the protections for public health.

Quote:
EPA
Pruitt's Okla. posse arrives at agency
Kevin Bogardus, E&E News reporter

Greenwire: Monday, March 20, 2017
A coterie of U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's aides and political consultants from his time in Oklahoma have joined the agency.

Sources tell E&E News that Pruitt has brought on several staffers at EPA who either worked under him when he was Oklahoma attorney general or were part of his campaign team in the Sooner State.

Lincoln Ferguson
Lincoln Ferguson. Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.

Sarah Greenwalt, who was general counsel for the Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General during Pruitt's tenure, has joined EPA as senior counsel. In addition, Lincoln Ferguson, who was press secretary for the Oklahoma attorney general's office, has joined EPA's public affairs office.

Both Greenwalt and Ferguson played a part in the recent controversy over Pruitt's emails as Oklahoma attorney general.

Last month, Pruitt was sued to release those emails under open records litigation from the liberal-leaning Center for Media and Democracy — some of which he has now released, providing more details on his state office's close relationship with the oil and gas industry. Greenwalt responded to the group's queries for those emails while Ferguson has given statements to the press about the litigation, calling CMD's complaint "political theatre" at one point (Greenwire, Feb. 7).

Also, some of Pruitt's political staff have come to EPA.

Sydney Hupp
Sydney Hupp. Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.

Millan Hupp, a political consultant who was part of Pruitt's campaign team in Oklahoma, has joined the agency to handle advance work. Her sister, Sydney Hupp, another former Pruitt campaign aide, has joined EPA as well to work as a scheduler.

Both Hupps worked on Pruitt's state campaign for Oklahoma attorney general, according to Oklahoma Ethics Commission records.

Further, during this last election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show that the Hupp sisters also worked for both of Pruitt's federal political groups, the Oklahoma Strong Leadership PAC and Liberty 2.0, the EPA chief's super political action committee.

Pruitt faced ethics questions on whether or not he planned to keep those political groups active while he ran EPA. Both groups filed termination letters with the FEC on the eve of his confirmation hearing in January (Climatewire, Jan. 19).

All four individuals started at EPA last week.


Didn't the right wing and Fux news go apeshit over Hillary's occasional use of private e-mail--like her predecessors? Outrage is so out of fashion.
Michael Biesecker, Sean Murphy

Quote:
Associated Press
Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt occasionally used private email to communicate with staff while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general, despite telling Congress that he had always used a state email account for government business.

A review of Pruitt emails obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request showed a 2014 exchange where the Republican emailed a member of his staff using a personal Apple email account.


And then there is this: http://abc7news.com/news/top-pruitt-aide-resigns-amid-growing-scandal-at-epa/3304619/

Feed those alligators.
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mat-ty



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 2:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mac's talking to himself again.......NURSE!!!!!!
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mac



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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matty's just fine with corruption--as long as it makes money for big oil and damages public health. Got it.
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mat-ty



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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 3:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mac wrote:
Matty's just fine with corruption--as long as it makes money for big oil and damages public health. Got it.


Don't forget my 401K Rolling Eyes

Actual it was Ed Henry from FOX NEWS that ripped him a new asshole....imagine that!!!!!
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wsurfer



Joined: 17 Aug 2000
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mat-ty wrote:
mac wrote:
Matty's just fine with corruption--as long as it makes money for big oil and damages public health. Got it.


Don't forget my 401K Rolling Eyes

Actual it was Ed Henry from FOX NEWS that ripped him a new asshole....imagine that!!!!!


Wet-ty is smoking something from the South Side! Where do you git this shite from, you're (or you are) an asshole Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation
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mac



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Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Mon Apr 09, 2018 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Would Trump appoint someone who is not a sleaze bag? https://www.salon.com/2018/04/05/exclusive-scott-pruitt-trumps-epa-chief-involved-in-shady-2011-real-estate-deal/
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mat-ty



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
Posts: 7850

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

wsurfer wrote:
mat-ty wrote:
mac wrote:
Matty's just fine with corruption--as long as it makes money for big oil and damages public health. Got it.


Don't forget my 401K Rolling Eyes

Actual it was Ed Henry from FOX NEWS that ripped him a new asshole....imagine that!!!!!


Wet-ty is smoking something from the South Side! Where do you git this shite from, you're (or you are) an asshole Exclamation Exclamation Exclamation



Those who speak with little to no facts truly make fools of themselves.
Maybe you should actually watch Fox news once in a while, It may help with your ignorance .


Do a little homework before you speak moron.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/04/05/ed_henry_grills_epa_chief_pruitt_you_dont_know_who_authorized_raises_for_your_top_staffers.html
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mat-ty



Joined: 07 Jul 2007
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mac wrote:
Would Trump appoint someone who is not a sleaze bag? https://www.salon.com/2018/04/05/exclusive-scott-pruitt-trumps-epa-chief-involved-in-shady-2011-real-estate-deal/



Trump has appointed mostly top notch people, Pruitt looks like a mistake.
But let's not pretend this type of activity is not common place in Washington.
Did you hear how Biden took his son to China to land a sweat heart deal??
All on our dime. Scum, almost all of them...
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mac



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Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matty doesn’t bother to acknowledge the latest evidence of Pruitt’s corruption, but instead wets his pants that Fux news occasionally performs journalism. If you step back just a bit, you can clearly see that Oklahoma oil is the support for trashing public health protections under Trump and Pruitt. That’s right, subsidize pollution and trash public education Oklahoma. What happened to the surrey with the fringe on top? In today’s news, Ryan Jackson takes the fall for approving the raises for the non-scientists from Oklahoma. Really, hotel management? That would be non-scientist Jackson, from Imhofe’s denier staff.
https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epas-chief-staff

The good news about all of this is that Pruitt aspires to run for President—and has shown himself to be a corrupt POS.
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