EPA Chief Scott Pruitt resigns amidst ethical scandals
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"I accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt as a director of the Environmental Protection Agency," Trump tweeted. At the Agency, Scott has done a great job and I will always be grateful to him.
Pruitt's resignation follows months in which the EPA administrator was embroiled in an ethical controversy after the next one. Also comes two days after an exclusive CNN investigation revealed that a former senior official alleged that Pruitt and his associates were meeting regularly to "clean up", alter, or remove controversial events from his schedule. This investigation prompted two members of the Democratic Congress to call Thursday the Inspector General of the EPA to investigate whether Pruitt has committed a federal crime.
Trump said on Twitter that the MP of Pruitt recently confirmed by the Senate Andrew Wheeler will assume the duties of Acting Administrator of the EPA on Monday.
"I have no doubt that Andy will continue with our large and sustainable APE agenda. We have made tremendous progress and the future of the EPA is very promising!" [19659006] A cloud of ethics has weighed on Pruitt for months as legislators from both parties, environmental groups and government officials have raised questions about his spending, housing arrangements, security team and increases. for political appointments. Trump expressed his regret at leaving the role, but said that "incessant attacks" had wreaked havoc.
"It is extremely difficult for me to stop serving you in this role at first because I consider it a blessing to serve you, but also, because of the transformational work that is occurring", writes Pruitt. "However, the relentless attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a heavy toll on each of us."
He added, "My desire to serve you has always been to bless you because you do it. I believe you are president today because of God's providence, I believe that the same providence will make me feel better. put at your service, I pray as I served you that I blessed you and allowed you to effectively lead America. "
Two EPA officials told CNN that 39, they had learned Pruitt's resignation from Trump's tweet and had no idea of the news.
Pruitt had lost the trust of many people named EPA's career and politics. had begun to lose hope that he would resign or be expelled by the president.
"Still in shock to be honest," said an EPA official at CNN. anyway, it lasted as long as it did. "
In total, Pruitt let the EPA cope more & # 39; a dozen & # 39; investigations or reviews its practices to & # 39; Agency, including its first-class airplane. from a lobbyist to $ 50 per night and the installation of a soundproof booth in his office.
A spokesman for the EPA's Office of the Inspector General told CNN that current or ongoing reviews of Pruitt would continue even if he resigned.
"Any exam underway or ongoing continue – regardless of the resignation of the administrator," said the spokesman.
But at the same time, Pruitt was one of the most effective leaders of the president's agenda. Entered into office as a critic of the EPA and a climate skeptic, Pruitt has been striving to reduce climate change, automobile pollution standards and other industrial pollutants [19659017] No later than June 8, Trump congratulated Pruitt. On the South Lawn of the White House, the EPA Administrator "did a great job within the walls of the EPA" and "we set records."
"Outside, he is attacked very violently by the press I'm not saying that he's blameless, but we'll see what happens," Trump said then, and did not answer a reporter who asked him if Trump was "tired" of Pruitt.
RELATED: An EPA Pruitt alert launcher
Pruitt was also involved in some manut intra-administration According to he, Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and installed Pruitt at the head of the Department of Justice, according to three sources.
But as the summer unfolded, the pressure on Pruitt began to get closer from its breaking point, while former staff members came to express their concerns and accusations about the EPA chief. Former collaborator Kevin Chmielewski told CNN that Pruitt and his team have held "secret" schedules and schedules to hide controversial contacts with industry representatives. The Washington Post and the New York Times revealed some aspects of the testimony.
Turn Right
Pruitt, a Republican from Oklahoma, became one of the leading critics of the EPA and was considered to be one of philosophically disagree with the Trump agency that asked him to run.
While serving as Oklahoma 's Attorney General, Pruitt was one of the leading architects of the legal battle against Obama' s climate change policies and has repeatedly sued the United States. ;agency. He described himself in his biography for this work as "a prominent advocate against the EPA's activist program."
Critics of Pruitt's nomination relied on his past statements to label him as "climate skeptic", a term for someone who denies the scientific connection between the activity climate change and associated impacts.
RELATED: Trump nominees say climate change is not a hoax, but invite skepticism
With Trump, who said that "global warming was created by and for the Chinese" Pruitt oversaw the efforts to dismantle. Trump announced at the beginning of last June that it would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement
Pruitt announced in October that it would withdraw the Clean Power Plan, a regulatory structure of the United States. 39, the Obama era to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. by state.
Investigations and Reviews of Pruitt's Practices at the EPA
Pruitt conducted a considerable number of investigations into his expenses and practices at the EPA, including investigations of the House, Senate, EPA and White House. Among them were surveys of Pruitt's travel practices, spending within the agency and the use of email.
The Inspector General of the EPA reviews all of Pruitt's trips in 2017, which will include several weekend trips funded by taxpayers in Oklahoma, as well as official trips to Italy and Morocco. The Inspector General told Congress in a letter of May 2018 that he expects the review to be completed by the end of September.
RELATED: The EPA Watchdog Expects to Complete the Pruitt Travel Review This Summer
Another EPA General Inspector reviews the practices of Pruitt's trip, suggesting that he will review Pruitt's use of his safety information 24 hours a day even on vacation for family vacations.
Separately, the representative of South Carolina Trey Gowdy, the Republican who chairs the House Oversight Committee, asked the EPA to justify Pruitt's use of first class seats or Business class on flights.
This spring, Gowdy declared that Pruitt did not deliver records
RELATED: Rep. Trey Gowdy says the EPA has not made the records
There are also several inquiries on Pretenti's lease of $ 50 a night Condo Capitol Hill in 2017 from lobbyist Vicki Hart. Hart's husband, J. Steven Hart, who is also a lobbyist, met Pruitt at the same time as he rented this room
RELATED: Pruitt met a lobbyist whose wife rented him a room [19659018] The emails showed deeper links between Pruitt and the lobbyists, including that a family friend of these lobbyists was considered for a position at the EPA. The EPA's Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are reviewing in April 2017 a meeting that Pruitt had with the National Mining Association regarding the Paris Climate Agreement, [19659018] critics said they violated anti-lobbying laws.
GAO found in April that the installation of a $ 43,000 soundproof telephone booth by Pruitt violated federal spending laws because the EPA had not informed them legislators that she exceeded the $ 5,000 limit to improve their offices. Pruitt and other EPA officials said Pruitt used the booth to receive classified information and to speak with the White House and other government officials.
RELATED: Nearly a dozen current journals of Scott Pruitt's email decisions. The Senate Speaker, Environment and Public Works, John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, began reviewing reports that Pruitt had four EPA email addresses, at least one of which was not disclosed. The EPA's Inspector General said in May that he would be reviewing the use of several email accounts by Pruitt, at the request of Senate Democrats.
These articles were semi-frequent accounts of Pruitt's personal conduct and the use of official resources. The reports included Pruitt wanting to use sirens to go to a high-end French restaurant in Washington, having security and helpers to help find a favorite lotion and pick up a used mattress from the Trump Hotel at Washington. Anecdotes offered ammunition for critics of the now-outgoing EPA leader as a Trump Swamp creature promised to drain.
Sara Ganim of CNN, Rene Marsh, Pamela Brown, Ryan Nobles, Kaitlan Collins and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.
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