{"id":2542,"date":"2018-04-26T14:08:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/democrats.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/26\/over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired\/"},"modified":"2018-04-26T14:08:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T14:08:00","slug":"over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 2 Dozen Reasons Pruitt Should Be Fired"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Pruitt testifies to Congress today, here’s a look at more than two dozen of the many corrupt reasons why Pruitt should be fired – he’ll have a lot of explaining to do today.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A government watchdog agency concluded that the EPA violated<\/a> federal law in spending more than $43,000 to install a private phone booth in Pruitt’s office.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. The lobbyist whose wife rented a condo to Scott Pruitt lobbied the EPA while Pruitt was leading it, contrary<\/a> to his and Pruitt’s public denials that he had any business before the agency.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Trump’s EPA considered renting a private jet for Scott Pruitt at a taxpayer cost of roughly $100,000<\/a> a month.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. The EPA signed off on a project for an energy company represented by the firm of the lobbyist that Pruitt accepted a deal from to rent a Washington condo at far below market value<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

            \n
          1. The lobbyist-owned<\/a> townhouse Scott Pruitt rented was also used as a Republican fundraising hub.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Scott Pruitt wasted more than one hundred thousand<\/a> taxpayer dollars on first class airfare during his first year in office.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

               <\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Pruitt took advantage of an obscure provision to give raises<\/a> to two of his closest aides, and then falsely claimed he didn’t know about it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. The EPA’s inspector general office planned to examine<\/a> Pruitt’s use of round-the-clock security detail while on personal trips, including a family visit to Disneyland and attendance at sporting events.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                   <\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. The EPA spent about $45,000<\/a> in government money to fly five of Pruitt’s aides to Australia to prepare for a planned trip that was later canceled.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                     <\/p>\n

                      \n
                    1. The EPA’s inspector general released a report showing the agency granted previously undisclosed pay raises of more than 20 percent<\/a> to several of Pruitt’s political employees.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                       <\/p>\n

                        \n
                      1. “Former Pruitt aide alleges litany of wasteful spending<\/a>, extravagant travel by EPA chief.”<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                         <\/p>\n

                          \n
                        1. Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff told lawmakers that Pruitt insisted on staying in luxury hotels that were costlier<\/a> than allowed by government standards and pushed to fly on an airline not on the government’s approved list so he could accrue more frequent flier miles.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                           <\/p>\n

                            \n
                          1. Pruitt allegedly chose travel destinations based on a desire<\/a> to visit particular cities or countries rather than reasons related to official business.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                             <\/p>\n

                              \n
                            1. Pruitt allegedly routinely<\/a> asked his staff to “find reasons” for him to travel to Oklahoma so that he could stay in his home state for long weekends, often at taxpayer expense.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                               <\/p>\n

                                \n
                              1. Pruitt allegedly paid no rent<\/a> while he stayed at a lobbyist-owned condo on Capitol Hill.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                 <\/p>\n

                                  \n
                                1. Pruitt’s aide Millan Hupp improperly<\/a> used federal government resources and time after Pruitt assigned her to act as his personal real estate representative.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                   <\/p>\n

                                    \n
                                  1. Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff said that Pruitt was aware of major raises given to two close aides, contrary<\/a> to what the administrator has claimed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                     <\/p>\n

                                      \n
                                    1. Former EPA deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski said he was pushed out of the agency after he refused<\/a> to retroactively approve the first-class travel of one of Pruitt’s closest aides.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                       <\/p>\n

                                        \n
                                      1. Pruitt sought to refashion<\/a> the EPA “challenge coin” to prominently feature his name and drop the agency’s logo.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                         <\/p>\n

                                          \n
                                        1. Pruitt has used four separate EPA email addresses since taking office, prompting concerns among agency lawyers that the EPA has not disclosed<\/a> all the documents it would normally release to the public under federal records requests.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                           <\/p>\n

                                            \n
                                          1. EPA’s inspector general is conducting at least ten<\/a> federal investigations related to Pruitt, including into questionable spending by his security detail.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                             <\/p>\n

                                              \n
                                            1. Former EPA deputy chief of staff and Trump campaign aide Kevin Chmielewski never filed required financial disclosure forms during his year in the Trump administration, a potentially serious<\/a> offense that in other cases has resulted in a criminal charge.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                               <\/p>\n

                                                \n
                                              1. Pruitt’s trip to Morocco to promote LNG could benefit<\/a> Carl Icahn, who holds a controlling stake in the largest U.S. natural gas exporter and helped Pruitt secure his Cabinet position.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                 <\/p>\n

                                                  \n
                                                1. Pruitt’s chief of security clashed with top EPA officials who challenged Pruitt’s spending and steered<\/a> at least one EPA security contract to a business associate.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                   <\/p>\n

                                                    \n
                                                  1. A senior EPA official received approval to collect outside income<\/a> from clients, while working for the Trump administration, whose identities are being kept secret.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                     <\/p>\n

                                                      \n
                                                    1. Nearly half<\/a> of Trump’s EPA political appointees have strong industry ties, including dozens of former lobbyists.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                                      As Pruitt testifies to Congress today, here’s a look at more than two dozen of the many corrupt reasons why Pruitt should be fired – he’ll have a lot of explaining to do today.   A government watchdog agency concluded that the EPA violated federal law in spending more than $43,000 to install a private <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOver 2 Dozen Reasons Pruitt Should Be Fired - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-26T14:08:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/over-2-dozen-reasons-pruitt-should-be-fired\/\",\"name\":\"Over 2 Dozen Reasons Pruitt Should Be Fired - 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