The $25,000 private phone booth Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt had built in his office actually cost $43,000 including costs to install the structure, the Washington Post reported Wednesday morning.
The booth itself cost $24,570, but the EPA paid more than $18,000 for the booth’s installation, which included removing closed-circuit television equipment, pouring concrete, adjusting a ceiling, and painting.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox defended the phone booth to the Washington Post on Tuesday when asked about the new estimate of costs.
“In September of 2017 we thoroughly discussed why this secure communications line was needed for the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Wilcox said.
The Post first reported on the booth back in September. A spokesperson said at the time that the booth would be a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which is used to access classified materials.
Read the Washington Post’s full report here.
