Scott Pruitt won the top award for plundering the people’s tax dollars to support his luxurious lifestyle. Many of Donald Trump’s cabinet members have done so, but none of them have reached Pruitt’s level of depravity. Now, the EPA chief has dug himself a new low.
The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency’s top aide blew the whistle on Pruitt’s latest level of decadence. She reported on all that Trump’s main man asked of her.
EPA scheduling director Millan Hupp sent an email to the House Oversight Committee Democrats. In turn, they sent the information to the committee chair, Trey Gowdy (R-SC).
Hupp testified before a panel of House oversight committee staffers this month. As a result, Democrats released part of her transcript documenting what Pruitt asked of her.
According to the aide, Pruitt had her trying to find a used Trump International Hotel mattress and perform personal errands for him. They included searching for a house for her boss and booking a Pruitt family New Year’s vacation in California, so that he could see the Oklahoma Sooners play in the Rose Bowl.
In addition, the press reported that Pruitt rented a luxury Capitol Hill condominium from a well-known oil and gas lobbyist’s family. He paid a token $50 per night in rent, even when his daughter, a White House summer intern, lived there, too. The lobbyist did not charge for her stay. When Pruitt was gone, the lobbyist did not charge him either.
Other examples of the lifestyle of the rich and increasingly famous Pruitt included trips to Morocco, France, and Italy. He traveled first-class in the air and at hotels with an extensive, expensive round-the-clock security detail.
One time, he was late to a dinner at an expensive Washington, D.C. restaurant. He made his security staff use their sirens and flashing lights to race to the dinner reservation.
The panel asked the aide for details about an email that documented her contact with the Trump hotel managers for the mattress. She testified earlier this year that she house-hunted for her boss, but only on her personal time.
Ranking committee member Representative Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Representative Gerald Connolly (D-VA) released a letter naming the aide’s errands a violation of the federal law forbidding gifts from subordinates, The DC Wichita Eagle bureau reported. They also requested that Gowdy subpoena the government records on the EPA, because the agency has been withholding them.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for Gowdy said the committee has conducted several transcribed interviews and obtained “2,350 pages of documents as part of our investigation into allegations of mismanagement and spending at the EPA,” the Wichita Eagle reported. The committee will interview additional witnesses and receive additional documents.
Spokesperson for Gowdy, Amanda Gonzalez, said the Democrats release of partial records “discourages future witnesses:”
‘Selectively releasing portions of witness interview transcripts damages the credibility of our investigation and discourages future witnesses from coming forward. The committee will continue conducting a serious, fact-driven investigation, and therefore will wait until the conclusion of our investigation to release our findings.;
Featured Image via Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla.
