Former EPA Administrator is in talks with the billionaire coal executive Joseph Craft about working with him in a “personal” capacity, the New York Times and Washington Post reported Wednesday.
After photographs showed Pruitt at the Kentucky Coal Association last week, the Times reported that unnamed coal executives who attended the meeting said Pruitt had spoken one-on-one with “several executives” about creating a new consulting firm.
One unnamed executive described Pruitt’s plans to the Times as being “on a personal level” with Craft, the CEO of the Oklahoma-based Alliance Resource Partners and a big Trump donor.
The Times noted Craft and Pruitt met seven times, at least, during Pruitt’s first 14 moths EPA administrator. The Post said Craft was Pruitt’s “longtime friend.”
Pruitt has long been discussed as a Republican gubernatorial prospect in Oklahoma, having served as the state’s attorney general before joining the Trump administration.
“Any discussions that occurred between Mr. Craft and Mr. Pruitt are preliminary, and do not involve him becoming an employee of Alliance Resource Partners,” an Alliance Resource Partners spokesperson told the Post. “Obviously, any discussions would not involve lobbying the federal government.”
