Tag: Trump administration corruption

Emails reveal close rapport between top EPA officials, those they regulate

The following article by Juliet Eilperin was posted on the Washington Post website July 1, 2018:

On the morning of April 1, 2017, Environmental Protection Agency appointee Mandy Gunasekara welcomed to her office a team of lobbyists representing the makers of portable generators.

For months, the Portable Generators Manufacturers’ Association had been trying to block federal regulations aimed at making its product less dangerous. The machines — used by many Americans during power outages after severe storms — emit more carbon monoxide than cars and cause about 70 accidental deaths a year.

Just before President Barack Obama left office, the Consumer Product Safety Commission had approved a proposal that would require generators to emit lower levels of the poisonous gas. Now industry lobbyists were warning Gunasekara of “a potential turf battle . . . brewing” between the commission and the EPA, which traditionally regulates air emissions from engines.

View the article on the Washington Post website here.

Bill Shine Likely as Next White House Communications Director Image

The following article by Maggie Haberman, Michael D. shear and Katie Rogers was posted on the New York Times website June 27, 2018:

Bill Shine after a meeting with Donald Trump in 2016, at Trump Tower. Credit: Lucas Jackson Reuters

WASHINGTON — Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive who was close to Roger E. Ailes, the network’s ousted chairman, is expected to be offered the job of White House communications director, according to four people familiar with the decision.

Mr. Shine, who was forced out as co-president at Fox News last May for his handling of sexual harassment scandals at the network, has met with President Trump in recent weeks about taking the West Wing communications job, which has been vacant since Hope Hicks left the job in March. Continue reading “Bill Shine Likely as Next White House Communications Director Image”

Letter reveals Oklahoma energy PR exec helped Pruitt secure Rose Bowl tickets

The following article by E.A. Crunden was posted on the ThinkProgress website June 15, 2018:

Meanwhile Trump repeats that Pruitt has done a “fantastic job at EPA.”

Credit: Gage Skidmore, Flick

An Oklahoma businessman tied to the energy industry reportedly helped his longtime friend, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Scott Pruitt, obtain coveted tickets to see the Rose Bowl in January, according to a letter sent Thursday by a top ranking Democrat. Pruitt is currently the subject of more than a dozen federal investigations, many involving his financial and ethical decisions as leader of the agency.

The letter was sent by Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to Renzi Stone, the head of the communications firm Saxum, which describes itself as having “extensive experience in marketing strategy, crisis communication and public affairs for energy companies.” Continue reading “Letter reveals Oklahoma energy PR exec helped Pruitt secure Rose Bowl tickets”

Why Scott Pruitt’s effort to get his wife a job could be his most consequential scandal

The following article by Amber Phillips was posted on the Washington Post website June 15, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

He asked Chick-fil-A. A conservative activist group. Republican donors.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was on a mission to find his wife, Marlyn Pruitt, a job last year, The Washington Post is reporting, and he even used EPA aides to help him do it.

It’s the latest in a months-long string of ethics lapses and alleged abuses of power on Pruitt’s part, but it also could be the most significant for him. Continue reading “Why Scott Pruitt’s effort to get his wife a job could be his most consequential scandal”

If Pruitt won’t resign and Trump won’t fire him, what penalty could he face?

The following article by Philip Bump was posted on the Washington Post website June 13, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has seemingly become to governmental ethics what Three Mile Island was to nuclear safety. A constant drumbeat of questions about his ethical behavior — excessive spending on security and office improvements, allegedly leveraging his personal position for his wife’s private gain, using EPA employees for personal work — has created a toxic political Superfund site within the administration of President Trump.

Neither Pruitt nor Trump, though, seems particularly concerned about it. Asked several months ago about the allegations Pruitt faces, Trump and his team said that they were looking into the issue, a bit of research that hasn’t resulted in any public acknowledgment of the questions that have been raised. The consensus is that any other president faced with a Cabinet-level official surrounded by a similar swarm of questions would have fired the official long ago, or that the official would have resigned. Tom Price, once Trump’s secretary of health and human services, resigned after only a small slice of similar alleged activity was revealed. Pruitt, though, is carrying on as though nothing had happened. Continue reading “If Pruitt won’t resign and Trump won’t fire him, what penalty could he face?”

EPA chief Scott Pruitt tapped aide, donors to help wife land job at conservative group

The following article by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, Brady Dennis and Shawn Boburg was posted on the Washington Post website June 13, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last year had a top aide help contact Republican donors who might offer his wife a job, eventually securing her a position at a conservative political group that has backed him for years, according to multiple individuals familiar with the matter.

The job hunt included Pruitt’s approaching wealthy party supporters and conservative figures with ties to the Trump administration. The individuals said he enlisted Samantha Dravis, then serving as associate administrator for the EPA’s Office of Policy, to line up work for his wife. Continue reading “EPA chief Scott Pruitt tapped aide, donors to help wife land job at conservative group”

Pruitt enlisted security detail in picking up dry cleaning, moisturizing lotion

The following article by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Brady Dennis was posted on the Washington Post website June 8, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

This post has been updated.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt asked members of his 24/7 security detail to run errands for him on occasion, including picking up his dry cleaning and taking him in search of a favorite moisturizing lotion, according to two individuals familiar with those trips who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk frankly.

Pruitt, who also has enlisted agency staffers in tasks including apartment hunting and securing a mattress for his personal use, faces congressional scrutiny over an expanding number of spending and management decisions. Federal rules bar public officials from receiving gifts from subordinates, including unpaid services, and from using their office for private gain. Continue reading “Pruitt enlisted security detail in picking up dry cleaning, moisturizing lotion”

The problems with Pruitt: A complete guide

The following article by Emily Holden, Alex Guillén and Kelsey Tamborrino was posted on the Politico website April 26, 2018 and updated June 20, 2018:

From Chick-fil-A to a stay in a lobbyist’s condo, these are the ethical quandaries spurring investigations into the EPA chief’s conduct.

Spending

His first-class flights, round-the-clock security, new SUV and sweep for bugs have raised questions.

Continue reading “The problems with Pruitt: A complete guide”

Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job — with Chick-fil-A

The following article by Juliet Eilperin, Brady Dennis and Josh Dawsey was posted on the Washington Post website June 5, 2018:

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces rising scrutiny over several ethics issues, including his use of taxpayer money. (Video: Bastien Inzaurralde/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chief executive of the fast-food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”?

A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with someone from the company’s legal department. Only then did he reveal that the “opportunity” on his mind was a job for his wife, Marlyn. Continue reading “Scott Pruitt enlisted an EPA aide to help his wife find a job — with Chick-fil-A”

New emails show EPA scheming with climate change deniers

The following article by Caroline Orr was posted on the ShareBlue.com website June 1, 2018:

Newly released emails show EPA officials working with a right-wing think tank in a coordinated effort to undermine climate science.

© Getty

Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been quietly working with climate change deniers at a conservative think tank to discredit climate science, according to a slew of newly released emails.

The emails, which were unveiled as part of a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), reveal a new level of coordination between Scott Pruitt’s EPA and the Heartland Institute, a fossil fuel-funded think tank that has spent years manufacturing an alternative body of pseudoscientific research meant to call into question mainstream climate science. Continue reading “New emails show EPA scheming with climate change deniers”