EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt asked EPA aides and top Republican donors to set up a job for his wife, Marlyn, last year and ultimately got her a spot in a conservative political group, according to a Wednesday Washington Post report.
A spokesperson for the Judicial Crisis Network confirmed that Marlyn Pruitt had been hired temporarily on recommendation by Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society and a longtime Pruitt friend who set up his $100,000 taxpayer-funded trip to Italy last year.
Marlyn Pruitt reportedly left the organization earlier this year.
This is just the latest in a long list of ethically dubious actions Pruitt has taken since becoming administrator, actions which have catalyzed a dozen separate federal ethics probes.
Virginia Canter, executive branch ethics counsel for the Washington watchdog CREW, told the Post that for an EPA administrator to “become the headhunter for his spouse” would be “highly inappropriate” since the search would affect Pruitt’s finances. “It’s above and beyond anything I’m aware of, with respect to any government employee,” she added.
Per the Washington Post, this attempt to secure Marlyn a job from his perch in the EPA was not Pruitt’s first — his maneuvering to get his wife a Chick-Fil-A franchise is the most recently reported precedent.
