Thursday was another whirlwind day for Scandalous Scott Pruitt, who’s polling numbers are tanking (down to 29%), as more and more disgraceful scandals and embarrassing headlines pop up. Pruitt’s bad behavior is now the cause of at least 11 federal investigations.
Here’s the latest:
Those Taxpayer Dollars:
The New York Times reported on a letter from Congress based on interviews with a former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff and Trump campaign staffer who Donald Trump called a “champ,” noted the frightening extent of Pruitt’s malfeasances:
According to a Trump loyalist, Pruitt told his staff to “find him something to do” in order to justify luxury spending and international trips on the taxpayer’s dime
Pruitt “refused to stay at hotels recommended by the U.S. Embassy, although the recommended hotel had law enforcement and other U.S. resources on site,” instead choosing to stay at “at more expensive hotels with fewer standard security resources,” while bringing along his own security team “at taxpayer expense.”
Pruitt booked flights with Delta to rack up airline miles instead of using the federal government’s contract carrier
Pruitt refused to pay rent to his lobbyist landlord, while his daughter damaged the wood floors
Pruitt assigned one of his aides, Millan Hupp ( a recipient of the huge raises Pruitt lied about on Fox news) to act as his “personal real estate representative, spending weeks improperly using federal government resources and time.”
Pruitt also refused to take out the trash while living in his sweetheart condo deal, according to the Daily Beast.
Pruitt’s security chief, an ex-Secret Service agent named Pasquale Perrotta, bragged that he let women hold his government issued firearm in romantic situations saying “It was, in some ways, like a dangerous, forbidden sex toy to some, & I played right along.”
Perrotta has clashed — at least once physically — with EPA officials who challenged Pruitt’s egregious spending
Perrotta also has a history of threatening his staff, in one instance threatening to seize a parking pass while saying he “didn’t give a f---” who might be listening to their phone call.
This is the same security chief who made excuses for Pruitt’s first class flights, and who only got the security chief job after Pruitt reassigned the previous security chief for not using sirens to get Pruitt to his dinner reservations on time.
Perrotta steered an E.P.A. security contract to his business associate. The waiver granted to Perrotta to work at EPA stipulates that while he can maintain his outside business, it cannot do work for the EPA. The sweep for bugs of Pruitt’s office was conducted by the Vice President of Perrotta's firm.
While he’s acting like #PresidentPruitt now, as Attorney General,Pruitt would have rather been Governor Pruitt. According to Gary Jones, the Oklahoma state auditor, “He went and got himself a big, black SUV just like the governor’s.” His predecessor rode in a Ford Crown Victoria.
As Oklahoma Attorney General, Pruitt spent 93 times what Drew Edmondson, the previous Attorney General, spent on “miscellaneous administrative” expenses in 2009, according to an audit. Spendy Scott’s administrative costs for 2014 came in more than $10 million over the budgeted amount for administrative expenses that year.
Unsurprisingly, Pruitt’s public opinion is tanking. Late night hosts John Oliver, Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah have all had a blast skewering his ethical morass and power trip violations this week. If Donald Trump won’t listen to his chief of staff, Fox News, or the American people calling for him to boot Pruitt, maybe he’ll take a cue from his fellow TV personalities.
Other Updates:
April 12 - Trump and Pruitt Stoop to New Low in Clean Air Attack
April 12 - Bicameral Letter Proves Pruitt Must Go
April 11 - Pruitt’s Scandals Keep Coming, So Drinks Start Before Lunch
April 9 - Pruitt Scrambles to Cover Up Giant Lie
April 8 - COLLINS: Pruitt Not Fit for EPA on Policy Grounds Alone
April 7 - Donald Trump is Being Conned by Scott Pruitt
April 6 - The Worst Week in Washington is the Only Thing Pruitt has Won
April 6 - Questions for Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Scott Pruitt is Under Siege
April 5, Questions for Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Pruitt's Situation Goes from Bad to Unsustainable
April 4, Sanders Refuses to Say Trump Has Confidence in Pruitt
April 4, Scandal Ridden Scott Pruitt Lies on Fox News
April 3, Questions for Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Pruitt is Flailing Edition
April 2, What They Are Saying on Pruitt’s Condogate: “Grifter,” “Unravelling,” “Criminal”
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