March 20, 2018
By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis –
The travel costs for Scott Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail exceeded $30,000 during the Environmental Protection Agency administrator’s trip to Italy in June, according to documents released by the agency.
The precise breakdown of what Pruitt’s security contingent spent on flights and lodging remains unclear because the agency released only a single, almost totally redacted page, showing that the detail’s travel expenses for June 5 to 12 came to $30,553.98. The Environmental Integrity Project, an advocacy group, obtained the records under the Freedom of Information Act.
The latest figures shed new light on how much taxpayers spent to send Pruitt and a coterie of aides to Italy, where they got private tours of the Vatican, met with papal officials and business executives in Rome and briefly attended a conference of environmental ministers in Bologna. The Washington Post previously reported that the trip had cost nearly $90,000, including $36,000 for use of a military jet to catch a flight in New York and a $7,000 premium-class ticket for Pruitt on the transatlantic flight.
The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is “to protect human health and the environment.” Disgraced EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt tried his best to undermine this vital mission by choosing to slash critical health protections and let corporate polluters off the hook. Now that Pruitt’s been booted, we need an EPA administrator dedicated to undoing his toxic agenda and restoring the agency to its core mission. Progress is possible and necessary – but another corporate crony or climate skeptic will not get us there.
Scott Pruitt is gone, but the fight is just beginning. We need an EPA administrator who puts our health and environment first, period. Any alternative is unacceptable.
