Pruitt facing new probe into claims he retaliated against EPA staffers who questioned some decisions

Source: The Washington Post




By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis
June 25 at 12:49 PM

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is investigating whether Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt retaliated against staffers who questioned his spending and management decisions, according to three individuals familiar with the probe.

During Pruitt’s tenure, the EPA has reassigned or taken administrative action against several career officials and one political appointee who had objected to the way he was spending taxpayer funds or using the perks of his office, these individuals said.

Attorneys from the Office of Special Counsel, which responds to whistleblower complaints from federal employees and can choose to prosecute cases, is in the process of speaking to a half-dozen current and former employees as part of the case, according to Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff operations. The office is taking the matter “extremely seriously,” Chmielewski said in an interview Monday.

Politico first reported the probe was underway. Pruitt is facing more than a dozen federal inquiries into his spending and management decisions, including review of his first-class travels, installation of a $43,000 soundproof phone booth in his office and his $50-per-night condo rental from a Washington lobbyist.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2018/06/25/pruitt-facing-new-probe-into-claims-he-retaliated-against-epa-staffers-who-questioned-some-decisions/