Pruitt Planned Out Global Travel Wish List Organized By Lobbyists, Friends

President Donald Trump announces his decision about the United States' participation in the Paris climate agreement in the Rose Garden at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015 to deal with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance so to limit global warming to a manageable level.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt walks into the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump announces his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement at th... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 01: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt walks into the Rose Garden before President Donald Trump announces his decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement at the White House June 1, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump pledged on the campaign trail to withdraw from the accord, which former President Barack Obama and the leaders of 194 other countries signed in 2015. The agreement is intended to encourage the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to limit global warming to a manageable level. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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In yet another ethically dubious move, embattled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has apparently been planning out an international bucket list, the country stops planned and often determined by lobbyists and friends, according to a Thursday Washington Post report.

One stop of Pruitt’s globetrotting made headlines recently: a $100,000 four-day December excursion which was arranged and guided by his good friend Richard Smotkin, a former lobbyist who won a lucrative contract with the Moroccan government a few months after the trip.

The Washington Post reports that this trip was part of a pattern.

Pruitt reportedly had a February trip planned to Israel, which was cancelled immediately before his departure when news broke about his expensive travel habits. The trip, which included seemingly non-EPA related stops to a settlement on the West Bank and to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was pitched to Pruitt and arranged by major Republican donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.

Sens. Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have written a letter requesting more information about the trip.

Per the Post, American Australian Council treasurer Matthew Freedman similarly arranged a September trip for Pruitt to Australia, where Pruitt was slated to promote liquified natural gas exports. The trip was also cancelled.

Pruitt’s travel wish list also reportedly included Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Panama, Poland, Japan, India and Canada, and former staff members told the Post that he wanted the trips doled out one per month.

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Notable Replies

  1. Why is this Grifting Douchebag still here?
    (Rhetorical )
    Just fine with it aren’t you Republicans

  2. So what is wrong with a well rounded EPA Douchebag? :anguished:

  3. Nobody’s a failure who has friends, right, Scott? It’s heartwarming, it really is. People just seem to like him and want to be his friend.

  4. “Mr. Pruitt, you just lied to Congress. Where are you going to go now?”

  5. Should this be a picture of a guy serving up human children to a group of overweight cannibals?

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