Scott Pruitt Got ‘Bullet-Resistant’ Seat Covers For His SUV

United States Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt looks on during a meeting at the G7 Environment summit in Bologna on June 11, 2017. G7 environment chiefs are meeting in Italy f... United States Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Scott Pruitt looks on during a meeting at the G7 Environment summit in Bologna on June 11, 2017. G7 environment chiefs are meeting in Italy for potentially difficult talks 10 days after Donald Trump sparked a rift with US partners by pulling out of the Paris climate change accord. / AFP PHOTO / Alberto PIZZOLI (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt knows what he wants: weaker fuel economy standardspersonal authority over parts of the Clean Water Act and, according to the Washington Post on Tuesday, bullet-resistant carseats.

In June, according to government documents and unnamed current and former agency officials cited by the Post, Pruitt leased a Chevy Suburban with a leather interior, GPS navigation and, added subsequently, “Kevlar-like seat covers to the vehicle at a cost of hundreds of dollars.”

The latter addition came with the approval of Nino Perrotta, who leads Pruitt’s sprawling, 24/7 security detail. Perrotta was reportedly also behind the installation of a $43,000 secure phone booth in Pruitt’s office. The Government Accountability Office said Monday that the EPA’s payment for the phone booth was illegal. 

The Chevy Tahoe former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy used “has largely sat idle,” at the EPA’s headquarters, the Post reported, despite its lease being renewed in February of last year. The report also found yet another SUV lease contract for the administrator’s office, though the leasing company told the paper that it appeared the EPA hadn’t yet picked the vehicle.

Pruitt has maintained the White House’s support despite scandal after scandal: not only expensive security measures and first class flights, but also the EPA’s use of the Safe Drinking Water Act to give senior advisers huge raises and Pruitt’s lease of a townhouse from a lobbyist power couple with business before his agency, among others.

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