EPA ethics official says he didn't have all 'factual information' on Pruitt's lease
Source: Politico
An ethics official at the Environmental Protection Agency who signed off on Administrator Scott Pruitt’s $50-per-night condo lease said he only approved the contract based on federal gift rules and did not consider other issues that the housing arrangement may have presented.
Kevin Minoli, an ethics official with the EPA, maintained in a memo released on Wednesday that Pruitt’s living arrangements — a Capitol Hill condo owned by a prominent lobbyist for which Pruitt paid $50 per night — were within the bounds of rules regarding gifts based on the rental rates of other nearby units.
Minoli, in the memo, stressed that there was some information that he did not have access to.
"Some have raised questions whether the actual use of the space was consistent with the terms of the lease. Evaluating those questions would have required factual information that was not before us and the Review does not address those questions," he wrote.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/05/scott-pruitt-ethics-memo-503641
Oopsie!
= new reply since forum marked as read
I don't know how the hell EPA interprets what a "gift" is but in my previous agency, we were talking about a "gift" being a "mug" or a "plaque" or a "book" or something like that with a "value" of not more than "$x", NOT a "room" every night. 
I would think what he did would go under TDY (temp duty station) or temporary housing (reimbursable) or something like that, as part of a "relocation" agreement.
Ethics... who needs them? 
