In an Orwellian example of Trump’s idea of draining the swamp, the Environmental Protection Agency’s embattled chief Scott Pruitt has been under fire for a soundproof telephone booth, first class travel, and renting a room in an expensive D.C. neighborhood for a mere $50 a night that just so happened to be co-owned by the wife of energy lobbyist Steven Hart, who lobbies for businesses Pruitt is supposed to be regulating.
However the EPA’s ethics office cleared Pruitt, a climate change denier who is in charge of regulating industries that impact our climate, of accepting a gift from a lobbyist, you know like a non-swamp dweller would — but did not address whether he broke other federal ethical regulations.
Reuters’ Richard Valdmanis reported, “The EPA’s ethics office reached the conclusion late last month that Pruitt’s lease did not constitute a “prohibited gift” because a number of other rooms nearby are available for rent for a similar or lower price. But it clarified in an April 4 memo, which was seen by Reuters, that its review did not consider whether Pruitt had violated other ethics rules with the lease.
Kevin Minoli, a top ethics official in the EPA’s Office of General Counsel, said in the memo that the review did not address other portions of the federal ethics regulations, such as the impartiality rule.
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‘It is important to note that the federal ethics regulations regarding impartiality apply regardless of whether something involves receiving a prohibited gift,’ he wrote.
The impartiality rule translates to don’t pick winners and losers, don’t show favoritism.
Editors note:
CLC’s @waltshaub obtained this memo clarifying that EPA’s ethics official analyzed #Pruitt’s lease only as a legal document, rather than events that occurred *after* the lease was signed. pic.twitter.com/GLkzLCyryf
— CampaignLegalCenter (@CampaignLegal) April 5, 2018
(Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Bill Trott)
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