Lobbyist helped broker Scott Pruitt's $100,000 trip to Morocco
Source: The Washington Post
By Kevin Sullivan, Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis May 1 at 5:22 PM
MARRAKESH, Morocco A controversial trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who accompanied Pruitt and his entourage at multiple stops and served as an informal liaison at both official and social events during the visit.
Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist who has known the EPA administrator for years, worked for months with Pruitts aides to hammer out logistics, according to four individuals familiar with those preparations. In April, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the Moroccan government to promote the kingdoms cultural and economic interests. He recently registered as a foreign agent representing that government.
The four-day journey has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and the EPA inspector general, who is investigating its high costs and whether it adhered to the agencys mission to protect human health and the environment.
Information obtained by The Washington Post shows the visits cost exceeded $100,000, more than twice what has been previously reported including $16,217 for Pruitts Delta airfare and $494 for him to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris. He was accompanied by eight staffers and his round-the-clock security detail.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/lobbyist-helped-broker-pruitts-100000-trip-to-morocco/2018/05/01/b2e20ee0-4d76-11e8-b725-92c89fe3ca4c_story.html
mpcamb
(2,875 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,192 posts)salin
(48,955 posts)Graft, as understood in American English, is a form of political corruption, being the unscrupulous use of a politician's authority for personal gain. The term has its origins in the medical procedure whereby tissue is removed from one location and attached to another for which it was not originally intended. (courtesy of wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graft_(politics)
What is Trump's definition of "the swamp"? - Oh, that's right, he never defined it - he just uses it to people who are not obsequious to him. Completely unrelated to actual corrupt behavior. Exhibit to prove that point: Scot Pruitt.
lindysalsagal
(20,731 posts)GOP grift at its finest. We can all be proud. Not.
brooklynite
(94,728 posts)...and I think I got the tix for $3,000 RT.
dembotoz
(16,832 posts)And no I am not boycotting.
Local Starbucks does too much good in the community