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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies before a Senate subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill on May 16. (Al Drago / Reuters)
The lobbyist whose wife rented at a discounted rate the administrator of the Scott Pruitt Environmental Protection Agency in a Capitol apartment pressured the chief of staff from Pruitt for that he's hiring a family friend.
The exchange is among several unrevealed interactions that show how J. Steven Hart, who served as president of the Williams & Jensen law firm until early in the year, sought to exert an influence on the agency's decisions while his wife rented Pruitt -a night in a block of upscale condo Capitol. The communications, published as part of a lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group, also appear to undermine initial arguments that Hart had not exerted pressure on the EPA during Pruitt's tenure.
The emails show that Hart and his wife – who rented the condo to Pruitt under an agreement that he only pays for the nights that he spent there – pushed the house. EPA to hire Jimmy Guilliano, a recent graduate of the university.
"I rarely talk to Scott, but Vicki does," Hart wrote to Jackson. "She told Scott about this kid who is important to us, he told Vicki to talk to you about how to handle this, I'm not sure personally that it's a good idea for Jimmy unless He's working near you, trapping him in the bowels, that's death at the EPA By the way, his family is all the naval academy. "
In an email sent Sunday, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said the agency has not hired Guilliano and that the agency maintains his earlier statement that Hart did not lobby the agency.
"The agency accepts the career recommendations of a number of acquaintances.In the end, Mr. Guilliano was not hired," wrote Wilcox, adding that when he was Hart's other correspondence with Jackson, "many of these emails were unsolicited and had no impact on the strategic outcomes of the Agency."
This spring, Hart said in an interview with the Washington Post and other media that he did not lobby the EPA in 2017 or 2018, but his former cabinet amended its lobbying disclosure documents this month to reflect the fact that he has worked for Coca-Cola, the Puerto Rico's Financial Supervisory and Management Audit Board, and Smithfield Foods.
Hart and Jackson, both Oklahomans, knew each other before Pruitt took the helm of the EPA. The emails show that the lobbyist has repeatedly contacted Jackson on several topics, asking him to arrange meetings for his clients and to place his allies in various EPA jobs.
Hart has worked to place candidates on the agency's Scientific Advisory Board, which helps guide EPA's research, although these efforts did not seem to bear fruit. Mr. Pruitt reorganized the membership of several EPA advisory groups in the fall, adding representatives from allies to industry groups, preventing researchers from sitting on the sidelines. they were simultaneously receiving grants from the EPA.
At one point, for example, Hart wrote to Jackson that he wanted to "highlight three candidates for the Science Advisory Board, who were nominated by our client, Dennis Treacy, the president of the Smithfield Foundation." .
At another point, while he was sending an email to Jackson, Hart wrote, "We must soon smoke a cigar." Hart organized cigar nights at the same condominium complex where Pruitt Stayed between February and August 2017.
Wilcox said that the candidates proposed by Hart "have not been taken into account because their names are redacted, they have not been selected."
In a statement released Sunday, Hart said: "I have never received special treatment from the Pruitt Administrator nor exercised undue influence over the Protection Agency. Ryan Jackson is an old friend I have known for many years before his service at the EPA. "
"We have discussed many topics and topics during his tenure as chief of staff, but he has never done a special favor on my behalf," added Hart.
Pruitt's lease agreement with Vicki Hart is the subject of close scrutiny by the House Oversight Committee and Government Relations, as well as the Office of the Inspector General of Canada. # 39; EPA.
Andrew Tran contributed to this report.
Read more:
A lobbyist related to the rental of Pruitt's discounted condos has done more lobbying with the EPA than has previously been leaked, according to firm reports
Democrats demand an inquiry into free housing research The help of Pruitt conducted at his request
A lobbyist related to Pruitt condo rentals helped his broker meet last year
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