'I couldn't find anything that made sense, that wasn't some kind of conflict,' he said. He agreed to brainstorm other possibilities for her, he told the Post. Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), speaks during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing in May where he defended his tenure at EPAīut Deason's firm, Deason Capital Services, has 'a substantial holding in oil and gas operating company Foreland Resources, LLC,' which means he has business dealings that fall under EPA regulation. In 2017 Pruitt approached Deason on whether the Dallas-based investor would be able to hire Marlyn Pruitt, who last worked in 1990s as she took time off to raise the couple's two children. Pruitt used his large network of political names - made during his time in Oklahoma and the Trump administration - to find work for his wife. The EPA referred questions to an outside counsel. Virginia Canter, executive branch ethics counsel for the public watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said told The Post that Pruitt's having a full-time EPA employee 'become the headhunter for his spouse' was 'highly inappropriate' since the outcome of the search 'would affect his financial interests.'
SCOTT PRUITT PUBLIC HIS DRIVERS SPEED FREE
'EPA is doing really, really well,' the president said at an event at Federal Emergency Management Agency last week.įederal ethics rules prohibit public officials from using their posts for private gain or receiving free services or other gifts from their subordinates. President Trump, in the past, has expressed support for his EPA chief. to help him find his favorite moisturizing lotion and used them to fetch his dry cleaning and granola bars. It was also revealed the EPA chief had his security detail to drive him around Washington D.C. Pruitt is under investigation for renting a Capitol Hill condo - for which he paid $50 a night whenever he was in town - from a lobbyist who worked on energy issues. She also booked his personal vacations and apartment hunted for the Pruitts. One of those aides, Millan Hupp, was recruited to help him buy a used luxury mattress from President Donald Trump's Washington hotel. He recently saw two senior aides - who had been with him since his time as attorney general of Oklahoma - quit their EPA jobs. restaurant, and and building a $43,000 soundproof booth in his office. Pruitt is under fire for multiple questionable uses of tax payer money during his time at the agency, including $3.5 million on his own security, $10,000 to redecorate his office, using his security detail's flashing lights and sirens to make a dinner reservation at a posh D.C. Marlyn Pruitt left the Judicial Crisis Network earlier this year, the spokesman said, adding that the group was pleased with her work.īut the latest revelation adds to the long list of questions Pruitt faces about his tenure at the EPA. More than $100,000 of taxpayer dollars were spent on the jaunt, which included private tours of the Vatican and meals at some of Rome's poshest restaurants. The Judicial Crisis Network has donated millions of dollars to political organizations associated with Pruitt since 2013.Īnd Leo is a prominent Pruitt backer who aided with arrangements for the administrator's visit to Italy last year. The two organizations have financial ties. The spokesman said the employment offer came after the group received her résumé from Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society. Judicial Crisis Network, which has advocates for conservative judges, confirmed Tuesday that it employed her as 'temporarily as an independent contractor.'Ī spokesperson for the group did not say how long she worked there or how much she was paid. Marlyn Pruitt ultimately landed a position. Pruitt enlisted Samantha Dravis, then serving as associate administrator for the EPA's Office of Policy, to help him drum up work for his wife. The job hunt included Pruitt's approaching wealthy Republican supporters and conservative figures with ties to the Trump administration.Īnd when one donor, Doug Deason, said he could not hire Marlyn Pruitt, a onetime school nurse, because of a conflict of interest, Pruitt continued to solicit Deason's help in trying to find other possibilities. EPA chief Scott Pruitt is under fire for his tenure at the agency