Lauren Lantry, lauren.lantry@sierraclub.org
“It should by now be clear that Scott Pruitt’s scandals are not going to stop coming, and he will continue to humiliate himself and the Trump Administration every additional hour he is in office.” - Maura Cowley, Director of the Sierra Club’s Resist Campaign.
Here’s the latest (though we may have missed a few scandals in the five minutes between drafting this and sending it):
Even before he got a sweetheart deal on a fossil fuel lobbyist’s condo, Salon reports that Pruitt was involved in yet another “shady” real estate deal while he was Oklahoma Attorney General, buying a Tulsa property days before a court ruling declared it was fraudulently transferred by a developer.The Pruitts then flipped the house for a $70,000 profit just months after the purchase when they sold it to a dummy corporation set up by one of Pruitt’s campaign donors.
CBS News reports that, impatient with DC traffic, Pruitt wanted to use sirens to weave through traffic. When his security chief told him that was only acceptable in emergencies, Pruitt removed the chief from his security detail and replaced him with someone who is now under scrutiny for his side businesses.
The Washington Post reports that Pruitt defied Trump - the man who holds Pruitt’s fate in his hands - yet again. After the White House told him not to do any TV interviews, Pruitt still went on Trump’s favorite network, Fox News, and absolutely flopped. Trump saw the interview and he is not happy. Earlier this week, the Atlantic reported that Pruitt ignored the Trump White House to approve massive raise for two friends from Oklahoma. A White House spokesperson said he “can’t speak to the future of Scott Pruitt.”
A planned “presidential event” on Friday where Trump would sign an Executive Order related to EPA safeguards was reportedly cancelled after Pruitt discussed it yesterday, according to Greenwire.
The Daily Beast reports that when WH Chief of Staff John Kelly lectured Pruitt and told him “the scandals need to stop,” Pruitt kept them coming, lying on Fox news and with the damaging Atlantic report on staff raises coming within hours.
Pruitt is losing his supporters left and right. His chief of staff is considering leaving, his “best friend” and close advisor, Samantha Dravis is resigning amid Pruitt’s ethics investigations, another Republican member of Congress is calling for him to resign, and even his home state’s newspaper has had enough.
More updates:
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”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.