Despite Earlier Denials, Emails Reveal Pruitt’s Landlord Lobbying EPA Regularly

UNITED STATES - MAY 16: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Building on the ... UNITED STATES - MAY 16: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt testifies during a Senate Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing in Dirksen Building on the proposed FY2019 budget for the EPA on May 16, 2018. (Photo By Sarah Silbiger/CQ Roll Call) MORE LESS
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In a flood of new emails released due to a Sierra Club lawsuit, correspondence between EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s landlord and Pruitt’s chief of staff reveals a close relationship complete with lobbying on behalf of companies and discussion of possible EPA job candidates.

According to a Sunday New York Times report, landlord and lobbyist J. Steven Hart and Pruitt chief of staff Ryan Jackson communicated frequently about EPA matters.

Pruitt has repeatedly denied that Hart ever lobbied the EPA after suspicions were raised last year over the downtown D.C. condo he obtained for a scant $50 a night from Hart’s wife. Per the New York Times, at least two of the 13 federal investigations into Pruitt’s conduct as head of the EPA concern the living arrangement.

The emails reveal that Hart suggested many candidates for EPA jobs to Jackson, including a family friend whose potential hiring Hart said he and Pruitt discussed. He also reportedly lobbied Jackson on behalf of companies including Coca-Cola and Smithfield Foods, offered to try to sway Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) on an EPA candidate during dinner, and gave his advice on the Paris Agreement.

A Pruitt spokesman told the New York Times that Hart and Jackson were merely good friends from their days in Oklahoma and that their correspondence “did not impact any agency policy outcomes.”

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  1. A Pruitt spokesman told the New York Times that Hart and Jackson were merely good friends from their days in Oklahoma and that their correspondence “did not impact any agency policy outcomes.”

    Yeah, and FDR ran a 10.9 in the 100 meters.
  2. Good friends can’t lobby. They can only be good friends making conversation.

  3. The issue here seems to be Smithfield’s contention that it should be able to dump as many pig turds it desires into the waterways that lead to the Chesapeake Bay. Oh – and it should be able to do so with impunity. The company’s corporate membership in the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay appears to be window dressing.

  4. Pruitt is such a liar…but that’s why Trump keeps him on.

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