The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
May 2, 2018

EPA's Scott Pruitt Faces New Scandals over Ties to Lobbyists, Spending, Foreign Trips
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is facing a
slew of new scandals over ethics violations and his environmental
policies. On Tuesday, it was revealed a lobbyist arranged Pruitt's
controversial $100,000 trip to Morocco last year. The lobbyist, Richard
Smotkin, also accompanied Pruitt on the whirlwind trip and organized
meetings for Pruitt, including one with the head of Morocco's
state-owned phosphate mining company. The New York Times also reports
the head of the highly conservative Federalist Society, Leonard Leo,
planned Pruitt's separate trip to Italy last summer.

The New York Times is also reporting that lobbyist J. Steven Hart, whose
wife rented Pruitt a Washington, D.C., condo for only $50 a night, asked
Pruitt to appoint three people to the EPA's prestigious Science Advisory
Board, which is tasked by Congress to evaluate the science used by EPA
to craft policy. Two of Pruitt's top aides have resigned in recent days
amid widening scrutiny of the agency. The resigned aides are Pruitt's
chief of security, who organized Pruitt's $3 million security detail,
and Albert Kelly, a former banker who has been banned for life from the
financial industry and was in charge of the EPA's Superfund program.
It's also emerged Pruitt tried to set up an office in his hometown of
Tulsa with a soundproof booth. Pruitt is already facing a spending
violation probe over his decision to install a $43,000 soundproof booth
in his Washington, D.C., office. Amid the inquiries, Pruitt is setting
up a legal defense fund.