Pruitt is the epitome of the real swamp that exists in Trump's Washington
3
Ah, the irony - Pruitt has become both toxic and radioactive.
3
"...Robert Rizzi, a tax attorney who specializes in government ethics with the firm Steptoe. Mr. Rizzi noted that Mr. Pruitt would hardly be the first member of the Trump administration to set up such a fund. “This has come up more often in this administration than in previous administrations,” he said. "
That's what happens when you turn the swamp into the sewer.
4
On to greener pastures! Cha CHING...
1
Scott Pruitt is what Broadway calls a real "triple threat"
but instead of singing, dancing and acting he manages to destroy the environment, ethics, and human decency simultaneously.
Maybe one day he'll put on a one-man Broadway show -- it'll be called "Oklahoma Part II - the Scott Pruitt Story".
Of course the producers will all be lobbyists from the coal industry.
13
So now Americans are finding out that some of us are above the law. Now we find out that a president CAN'T be indited. We find out that Congress, not our laws, decide whether anybody or anything can touch a president. And a congressman is only answerable every few years to fools who know little because the vast majority pay little attention.
5
You watch, Trump will beat Ronny Rayguns record of 138 administration officials convicted. He will do it in one term.
10
"The people familiar with Mr. Pruitt’s legal defense fund said they did not know what legal or financial form the fund would take."
Whatever form allows bearer bonds, unmarked bills, and anonymous contributions ...
11
The "Superfund" administered by the EPA is supposed to clean up messes left by previous neglect of the government to regulate polluting activities. It is just another boondoggle to the likes of Scott Pruitt.
6
You might find it interesting to learn just how little of the Superfund money has been used for that purpose. All but a very tiny fraction has been used to pay legal fees.
1
Pruitt should replace Mr. Perrotta with Super Agent 86. He knows how to operate the "cone of silence" and has a myriad of old tricks to complete the comedy that is this administration. Tragicomedy.
3
Corrupt , corrupt , corrupt . The only apt description that applies to Pruitt and his thieving accomplices . I cannot fathom why it seems to be acceptable to the poorer side of Trump supporters since they eventually will get stuck with the bill , along with the rest of us .
9
Trump's nihilists simply want the whole system burned down.
6
Some of Trump's base are content as long as Trump continues to denigrate and threaten the "others" who the base dislikes: people of color, immigrants, women who expect to be treated as human beings rathet than walking uteri.
7
So he needed protection? Perhaps that’ll become a self-fulfilling prophesy? One can only hope.
2
At the very least, Pruitt should be prosecuted for malfeasance and made to repay what he plundered from the EPA.
6
I'd say these two know that the well is now dry so why stick around.
5
If you put all this in a novel, people would say it wasn't good fiction! Life is so much more interesting than fiction!
2
Pruitt is, shall we say, "less than honorable" in his dealings; his ethical foibles would have had any other regular person working for the US Government Fired by now.
It is little surprise those around him realize that when (not *IF*) he's pushed under the bus that is trump's ego, want to be as far from Pruitt as possible.
Rats leaving a drowning man....
4
Why does the head of the EPA travel in motorcades?
9
Mr. Pruitt is definitely one of the more distasteful Trump appointees. And that's saying something.
I remember a time when legal defense funds were initiated to help deserving but poor activists, not gangsters.
What will he call it? He won't be able to use "Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust" which was set up for Trump and his crew of co-conspirators.
Maybe he could call it "The Scott Pruitt Great American Environmental Defender Super Fund" or "Fund for Alternatives to Ethical Solutions" or "Please Dear God I Don't Want To Go To Jail Fund".
Whatever he calls it, I believe he will be decidedly underfunded.
3
The GOP owns this! All of it.
This is what happens when you let republicans run things.
The evidence is everywhere.
Look at all the states with teacher walk outs- All GOP strongholds. For now.
The people are starting to rise up and take notice -even republicans starting to revolt against their own party. ( see Rosenstein yesterday)
The epa administrator will not complete 2018 in his post and the likely hood of him going to prison rises with each passing day
Resist. Vote. Repeat.
6
People who claim that government is inherently incompetent run for public offices to make it so.
5
Are Pruitt and Trump in a personal competition to see which of them is the more corrupt? I admit that I am having trouble choosing. Maybe Mr. Mueller can help us with that.
Pruitt should be long gone by now. That he isn't demonstrates how much control the Kochs have over the White House. Stunning, really.
8
The Koch political machine probably turns over $1 billion every year.
3
The whole sleazy Trump presidency is nothing more than an influence peddling operation.
12
Someone will have to explain to me how blaming one’s senior staff and claiming ignorance of their actions on Pruitt’s behalf matters at all. Pruitt is the head of the EPA. Everything that happens there is, by extension, his responsibility whether he has direct knowledge of what is going on there or not. So, why does it sound like Congress — Republicans and Democrats alike — seem to accept such a flimsy excuse. The line of questioning seemed to stop when Pruitt passed the buck and I heard no one admonishing him for doing so. If full responsibility doesn’t fall to the head of any enterprise, what’s the point of having a head in the first place?
9
Thats because all of our so called reps in congress on both sides of aisle are spineless (dems) and spineless sycophants (repubs). They are all pathetic. Pruitt should be long gone. He is a criminal and a thug.
3
Regardless of ideology, nearly all of us agree that Scott Pruit should not be billing taxpayers for a sound-proof phone booth. To even THINK that is OK shows a nearly unbelievable level of stupidity and sense of entitlement.
No better is Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate for Senate in Tennessee. Years back, she rented a limousine in Los Angeles on a trip to promote Tennessee's movie industry (what, you didn't know Tennessee has a movie industry?) When some state official responded to her reimbursement request by saying that state officials shouldn't be riding around in taxpayer-funded limousines, Ms. Blackburn became so incensed that -- I am not making this up -- she burned the receipt she'd received from the limousine company and sent it to that state official in the mail.
In other words, not only did Ms. Blackburn believe she was entitled to a taxpayer-funded limousine, but she felt the reimbursement-approvers were impertinent even for questioning her entitlement.
Granted, many (some?) Tennesseans can afford (slightly) higher taxes, but it's outrageous to think that someone, especially someone promoting the "Tennessee movie industry" (an oxymoron?) believes they're so entitled to ride around in a limousine paid for by Joe Shmoe's tax dollars that she becomes indignant whenever anyone disagrees.
Where do these people come from?
I have no complaints about Ms. Blackburn riding around in a limousine; I DO have complaints about paying for it.
36
I find it interesting that you mention Marsha Blackburn in your reply. How do people with such avarice end up in our government?
A few years back while working as a luxury automobile salesperson, I had the fine experience of catching a call-in inquiry by Ms. Blackburn. She was interested in leasing one of the models in our inventory and wanted the lease numbers 'right now'.
It was late and there was only myself and the business manager at the dealership. I interrupted his work to get lease numbers on a particular auto so that I may fax the numbers to this prospect (Ms Blackburn).
The weekend comes and Ms. Blackburn and her husband show up and a co-worker catches them on the lot and she begins explaining to him that she did not want to work with me because I was unprofessional with my scribbling of numbers on the paper that was faxed to her. (So my co-worker tells me anyway)
So she lands on a car that fit the lease numbers and proceeds with the lease.
In the process of doing the necessary paper work, when the business office pulls her credit they discover that she has terrible credit and probably could not get the deal done. They were correct in their judgement and could not get Ms. Blackburn "financed".
So, a week or so goes by and the following weekend she shows up with her "mama", who has good credit and has the car titled in her name, which is a "straw" purchase by the way and terribly frowned upon in the paper buyers' eyes.
7
I never liked Ms. Blackburn, who seems to only cater to her wealthy donors. How does this woman keep getting elected?
Well, duh!
"Hoping there will be more and more of us and we all VOTE!"
Many commenters undoubtedly are puzzled by the substantial difference in "Trump Approval" polling results between the Gallup polls and the Rasmussen polls. The difference far exceeds the "margin of error" for any poll.
Why?
It's possible there is some other answer, or more important answer, but I suspect the answer is simply and this is it:
The Gallu poll interviews "all adults." The Rasmussen poll interviews "likely voters."
Get the point?
4
Pruitt was hand picked by the Koch brothers for the EPA, that's why the GOP congress is too afraid not to keep backing him. The Koch's received some of the biggest fines in EPA history and they're not only greedy and corrupt but vindictive as well.
40
They are Trump with better self-discipline and probably better manners. While they would be fine with employees being harmed on the worksite, they would likely not give themselves two scoops of ice cream and not offer a second scoop to their guests. But, who knows? Maybe they share that trait with Trump, too. The parallels in their family life are quite stunning.
1
''Mr. Pruitt, who is the subject of 11 federal investigations, is now seeking to establish a legal defense fund, ''
There is only one thing Sec. Pruitt can do, must do at this time with these qualifications.
Run for an elective office as a republican.
23
These are swamp creatures of a biblical nature. We need to rid ourselves of them as soon as possible - get Pruitt out now.
24
People say that rats are the first to leave a sinking ship.
16
From what I heard on NPR today he is at least as bad as Pence in the misogyny department, and that is really saying something.
21
Can't we all just agree, Scott Pruitt is hazardous waste?
66
Lock him up already.
Can't wait to see this one go. Let the dominoes fall.
30
Scott Pruitt is the most transparently corrupt individual to serve in a senior position in a presidential administration since Spiro Agnew.
52
Watch out. President Trump may use your comment for proof that Mr. Pruitt is a transparent guy. He’s so transparent that there’s nothing to see here.
1
HELP ME!...this daily insanity is causing me to withdraw from 'fake news' reality. I need an anxiety prescription from a malleable Doctor. I need a degree in higher understanding from a Madrassas college graduate recently seeded into the Deep State. I need the aid of some blindly obedient sycophants who are willing to support my delusional state because it suits their squint-eyed agenda. I need relief please. When?
13
Republicans are up at arms over Rosenstein and want to impeach him yet they ignore the crimes of Pruitt. If you want to clean house you don’t fire the cleaning crew and hire an arsonist.
34
Funny you should mention Superfund!
About 20 years ago, I read an article reporting the first 10 years of Superfund payouts. The article reported that about 90% (as I recall) of the payouts had gone to lawyers (the Superfund law authorized the payment of legal fees to successful plaintiffs).
I mentioned this to several other lawyers. The response of each one was exactly the same, usually verbatim:
"What happened to the other 10%?"
10
The cesspool of this administration, its Cabinet, its GOP Congress is overflowing. And Pruitt...an absolutely disgusting human being, and no one is doing anything to stop his abuse of power. He, his cronies, and his "boss" are set on destroying our environment. But they are not only robbing our air and water, they are also robbing our pocketbooks. That's our money being spent..all those taxes that we must pay with no help of relief from the Republican party. I don't know how much further we have to sink as a nation. But if we go down, this garbage we have governing in DC will too. I am so angry, so frustrated...and feel so powerless.
43
Agree 1000%. Hoping there will be more and more of us and we all VOTE!
16
Rotten to the core, as most of Trump's picks have been. Trump isn't draining the swamp, he's making a bigger one! In old days there was tarring and feathering, or better, being rode out on a rail. Come on, decent Americans, vote these spend-thrifts out in November.
Everyone, especially Trump voters, ask yourselves how much better you are off now then you were in 2016...probably worse. Less health care, less gun control,, less government assistance to those who really need it.
There is no trickle down to us, except for a more expensive cost of living. No one I know got a raise, no one I know got a bonus. In fact, just to point out one small result of Trump's outrageous tariffs, now my local paper will go up to a dollar a copy because the US buys newsprint paper from Canada. Little things like that.
This administration is NOT on your side, and is doing everything possible to make the rich richer. Wake up in November, our future depends on it.
25
Draining the swamp and exposing a cesspool!
1
https://theintercept.com/2017/12/28/scott-pruitt-failed-banker-running-e...
Details about Kelly's banking troubles.
Note that his family bank benefitted greatly from the TARP.
13
Scott Pruitt needs to go now...and straight to jail. The list of violations just grows and grows and thanks to hard-working journalists, Pruitt's lies (e.g. he never had contact with the lobbyist whose wife he rented the condo from and now we find emails between them asking for favors) are getting uncovered.
36
Maybe Mr. Pruitt is waiting until the scandals and allegations merit tarring and feathering (which would be appropriate considering his intimate relationship with fossil fuel lobbyists).
13
I have become found of direct justice: tar and feathering, the stocks. Public humiliation has its place. Of course, people in this administration have no shame so they can't experience humiliation. I would enjoy watching Pruitt getting a rotten tomato thrown in his face. He, of course, would quiver as if it were an assault rifle.
Can we please get rid of this guy already?
Enough wasting my hard-earned tax dollars.
Enough wasting my planet away you shill.
Enough bullet-proof desks and super-duper-secret phone booths.
51
“Banned from banking for life!” Another of The Donald’s “finest people”.
38
John Gotti would have run a cleaner, no pun intended, EPA than Scott Pruitt. The White House will be a Superfund site before too long. All this and more are the reasons why Trump will never fire his Mini-Me EPA Chief (apologies to the late Verne Troyer).
17
The latest news is that Pruitt, a lawyer who was AG of Oklahoma, had his weekend trip last December to Paris with a side excursion to Morocco arranged by a lobbyist. The trip cost taxpayers a cool $100,000.
I am guessing that Pruitt is going to get fired, be prosecuted for corruption, and spend time in jail.
Ignorance of the law is no excuse for anyone, and especially for a lawyer.
30
And the lobbyist who arranged the details of that part of the trip was immediately hired by Morocco.
10
So two or Pruitt's top aides have resigned powerful positions. I wonder if they know something the rest of us don't. Yet.
14
I'm greatly appreciating the efforts and work of the Times to keep Scott Pruitt's activities front and center in the public domain. This is truly a public service you are performing on behalf of all of us. Accountability starts with bringing the activities of public servants into the light and Pruitt shows a strong tendency to hide his activities from public scrutiny. Thanks for great reporting. Keep it up.
91
Trump was correct, he will drain the swamp. And it's because he's named swamp monsters to every single position and they in turn have named swamp monsters to subordinate posts. Their unethical, fraudulent, self-serving behavior is so blatantly on display for everyone to see, there will finally be no choice but to get rid of them.
Those few Republicans standing up for our democracy rather than for the Republican party will have to continue doing the heavy lifting to help put our political system back together but I have faith that the swamp will finally be drained.
13
The Republican slogan should be “Swamps Are Us”.
12
True justice would be for Pruitt to be sentenced to live in Flint, MI until their water crisis is resolved.
22
A fitting sentence? Pruitt should get hard labour cleaning up a Super Fund site. Without a mask or haz-mat suit.
27
"Hazardous waste" perfectly sums up Trump's reign of incompetence.
18
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Why does this old truism seem to apply over and over to the minions of the Trump regime, from the President on down? Never (except, perhaps, Andrew Johnson) has the nation endured such a lineup of venal, corrupted and compromised individuals in high positions. It is a spectacle for historians; those of us living through this feel like we are cowering under a plague of locusts.
36
Pruitt and Trump are cut from the same cloth, it's cloth made from lies, and ethical lapses. Its a cloth that doesn't rely on the truth. Pruitt, and Trump won't take responsibility for their actions because it easier to blame someone else, then fire them. Why would anyone want to be around those two is beyond me.
Pruitt, is the kid that got his lunch money stolen, and was the other boys in schools punching bag, he gets even by poisoning the water, air, and ground, while thinking , that will teach them not to mess with Pruitt.
12
Richard Painter is running for senate in Minnesota under the banner of ethics
He switched to the Democratic Party
Absolutely made my day!
He is the only republican I could ever vote for- love him
21
It seems this is following the plot line of most heist flicks. The self-appointed ‘mastermind’ plans the perfect crime, anticipating a big haul. One by one, the gang self-destructs, as fate and the personal foibles of the participants inevitably lead to failure.
Think Rififi, The Killing, and The Asphalt Jungle. That’s Pruitt’s EPA.
2
Simply, Pruitt need leave the Federal goverment!
9
Is this really the best we can do? I cannot believe that past administrations have always been this corrupt and pathetic.
8
They haven't!
drip, drip, drip- give it time, the swamp will drain on its own
7
Republicans always overreach. And they compete with each other to see who can get away with it the soonest. It's the only thing that limits their depredations. When they get caught they scatter like cockroaches when the lights get turned on.
18
If Pruitt resigns or is fired, he'll come back to Oklahoma and we don't want him. Since Pruitt is worried about security, there is a nice secure and very large building in Leavenworth, Kansas where Pruitt will fit in nicely. They won't even charge him fifty dollars a night and meals are included. He might even be able to see Oklahoma from there.
86
That Scott Pruitt keeps losing his workers comes as no surprise, given how corrupt he is, and with a malevolent ignorance of the evidence, human 'enhanced' climate change....and it's nefarious world-wide consequences.
19
May I offer my vintage gold Waterman's fountain pen to Administrator Pruitt to use in signing his letter of resignation in lieu of the firing he so richly deserves?
At least as EPA Administrator Pruit could have drained the swamp rather than enrich it to the detriment of us all.
10
I hope that someone investigates all the Superfund sites that Kelly was involved in. Given the complete lack of ethics or concern for public health, if I was a betting person, I would bet that Kelly tried to short cut the cleanup as much as possible so he could build on the superfund sites.
Pruitt and these people do not care about the public wealthfare. They care about themselves and their pocketbooks.
It is just shocking, depressing and horrible that Pruitt and his band of misfits are using government money for their own purposes and undoing any safeguards set to protect people from hazards.
The NRDC is basically filing a lawsuit almost a day against these folks. Pruitt is exactly the person the EPA was established to fight. His being there is SO WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
35
Yes, Pruitt should get a life sentence, but keep in mind that Pruitt has done exactly what trump and the republicans hired him to do! When is Pruitt going to come out and say, all these things i'm being charged with were agreed to and approved to before I accepted the position at the EPA!
19
The only environment that Puitt's agency has protected is an ever more foul-smelling swamp.
19
Now there's news that Pruitt's trip to Morocco cost over $100,000, more than twice the amount originally reported! Whats more, the Morocco trip was partly arranged by a lobbyist, who subsequently, landed a $40,000 a month contract with a Morocco entity. If that wasn't bad enough, Pruitt seemed out of his lane in promoting liquified natural gas. Isn't that Secretary Perry's job? Swamp? Try ethical quicksand!
88
Defense fund! Hahahaha! Wait until all the businesses that the EPA regulates contribute to the defense fund. It’ll be awesome.
12
Very disheartening. Makes me very angry at this crook and the people who voted in his boss Trump. Nice Attorney General you had there Oklahoma you can have him back.
26
Kelly's attempt to minimize the FDIC's lifetime ban is pathetic. As a former bank regulator, I can assure you that a lifetime ban is quite rare. The FDIC issues these enforcement actions only in the most egregious cases.
94
In regards to the appointments of Trump's Cabinet, somewhere in this mess is a case for charging someone with dereliction of duty. It should start with Trump.
And what about all that talk defending the election of Trump by his base, their belief that Trump will surround himself with business professionals who will hit the ground running and get the Trump Administration up to speed? That did not happen no matter how Trump tries to spin things.
Sorry, but this has been a train wreck from the get-go and it's only going to get worse.
The first step in the right direction is the Democrats winning back the House come November. This Republican fiasco has to end and it starts with the Democrats getting out the vote like never before.
38
So they will either flip on Pruitt to avoid jail, or they are foolish enough to think if they quit now they won’t be prosecuted.
14
It looks like the very slow wheels of justice may catch up to Scott Pruitt and his gang at the EPA. Who ever Pruitt reports to should be culpable as well.
19
Albert Kelly's resignation is probably the greatest contribution he made to tackling hazardous waste at the EPA.
Now somebody needs to get a move on and get a hold of any files belonging to the two of them which may be needed for investigations by the House and possibly of Pruitt.
23
I love the phrase "ethical lapses".
It implies that the perpetrator of the lapses has ethics to begin with.
In Pruitt's case this is an assumption without a shred of truth.
33
It's not the "Scott Pruitt Protection Agency", however much the Secretary would like to think so. The agency belongs to us, and right now it's up to us to protect it so that it can protect us.
10
It must have taken a lot of time and diligence to wade through all of the over-qualified job applicants before settling on these pathetic employees
16
Pruitt will resign on Friday after the news cycle and after Trump heads to Florida.
13
Rats. Ships. And so on.
10
Scott Pruitt is a the poster child Trump appointee. Another evangelical who is ethically challenged, in charge of an agency he once derided, in cahoots with industry, and willing to throw subordinates under the bus to save his own skin. A real class act Making America Great Again.
30
Trying to decide which of trump's appointees is the worst really depends on which cause one considers most important - the environment (Pruitt), education (DeVos), housing for the poor (Carson), and so forth.
12
Honorable mention to National Parks (Ryan Zinke), but:
I’m going to go with Pruitt. Actively making our planet uninhabitable and hastening our extinction pretty much make all the rest of the injustices irrelevant.
14
It’s a lose- lose-lose situation that could only be brought about by the worst president and person in US history. The epidemy of swamp
behavior at it’s worst.
3
When someone is appointed to a government position they should be qualified, be honored to serve, and deserve the honor. And then work diligently for this country. Do any of these guys fit this description? No! Not even their boss fits these few guidelines.
41
Is it official yet? Is the Trump administration the most corrupt in our country's history?
101
Why is he still not in jail? Why?? What else needs to happen?
30
The miscreants that Trump and the corrupt congress have given Cabinet heads their positions to deregulate and over -turn the Congressional intent of their respective departments!These department heads like Pruitt should be charged under the Rico statute! With impunity their policies endanger the health and welfare of hundreds of millions American!Rome is burning while corporate media is fixated on 'Stormy Daniels"In addition a witch's brew is bubbling with the addition of Bolton and Pompeo,preparing for an attack on Iran!
24
The fact that Mr Pruitt needed expensive protection and "body guards" in his role as Head of the Environmental Protection Agency tells us all we need to know about Scott Pruitt.
42
This is probably not true. If the expenses were only about security, the story could be different. Since they also include self-enrichment, the security just looks like another venue for lavish excesses.
1
Is being a grifter a requirement to be in the Trump cabinet?
55
Not a requirement, but raises you in the boss’s esteem.
1
Might as well turn the swamp into a cesspool. It isn't like Scott Pruitt ever had any intention of protecting the environment in the first place.
40
Drain the swamp, impeach trump.
12
Sleazy. The best word for anything Pruitt.
14
Get rid of that loathsome man!
15
What exactly did Pruitt mean when Kelly did a good job? Perhaps he thought there should be more toxic waste? Did Pruitt or Kelly know the goal was for there to be less toxic waste?
The more I learn about President Trumps appointees and their hangers-on - the more fearful I become about ever cleaning up this mess.
24
We are at a point where these two men felt free to do Pruitt's bidding, said or unsaid, without fearing repercussions of the ethical sort. Pruitt should know what's going on in his agency and reflect to his personnel the highest integrity and honor in holding such an important position. But instead we have "mini-me Trump," blaming others for his problems, lying, living large on taxpayer dollars, behaving like a mob boss, and denying everything. Everyone I know is filled with disgust with Pruitt's rolling back of essential regulations, his anti-science stance, his foul treatment of dedicated federal employees, and his corruption and misuse of our dollars.
20
And yet our GOP congressmen/women still think Pruitt and Company are doing a wonderful job at the EPA in spite of the widespread corruption and incompetent hires. THEY are the ones we should be looking to for answers. Unfortunately they appear to have left the building...or perhaps the country. Party over country. Always!
23
and now he has taken us to the cleaners on a vacation to Morocco. these people who got thrown in this cabinet knew their boss could care less about what they did for themselves with public money, and in the work they'd done before, they'd never had to even contemplate that a free press might be watching.
13
No amount of detergent and disinfectant will be able to restore the EPA to its pre-Trump state even after Pruitt is finally removed. Trump and his minions have done more to befoul the Washington swamp than all administrations together during the last half century have done.
13
"the agency’s Superfund program, which oversees the cleanup of hazardous waste sites."
Why is the EPA cleaning up other companies' messes?
Aren't these companies ever held accountable, and forced to clean up?
10
The waste water plant I happen to live near, probably has a less foul smell that E.P.A. under Pruitt. Everything associated with trump seems to be tainted in some fashion. I think America has found a stain that can't be removed by ajax.
60
We need another special prosecutor to investigate the rampant corruption under Scott Pruitt.
52
Mr Pruitt, you must be so proud of yourself. You finally have your little McMansion in Oklahoma, (hope you have earthquake insurance), first class tickets, free ball games and , thanks to the taxpayers, a secure place to talk with your energy industry donors. You’ve climbed the mountain Scott. Problem is, it’s a pile of garbage you sit on. Your career is a Superfund site.
FIRE HIM.
270
FIRE HIM is not enough. Try him with capital punishment for deliberately causing the death of at least of one person with 100% statistical certainty. If we can have the gave of the unknown soldier why can't we have one for the unknown victim of Scott Pruitt.
6
Scott Pruitt belongs in an orange jumpsuit in front of a judge. He is literally the most corrupt and abusive cabinet secretary of my lifetime, bar none.
182
Er, well actually, there IS one other who is even more corrupt than Pruitt.
2
Scott Pruitt needs to resign.
36
As James Comey commented that talking to President Trump was like talking to a mafia Don, well then meet his under-boss Pruitt and his lieutenants.
25
The difference between the mafia and what's happening here is that the mafia was taken down by the Feds and not championed by the GOP as Pruitt and all the other criminally appointed are
7
The mafia was/is also much more competent than these clowns. They also have more honor.
1
Pruitt is Fredo to trump’s...trump.
Stinkers, all.
17
This isn't the beginning of the end. It's the end of the end.
5
“Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied”
- “Everybody Knows” - Leonard Cohen
. . . and the rodents scurry down the ropes . . .
17
This song played on an endless loop in my head in the days after the election.
1
Pruitt should be going to prison for corruption, selling the environment to his oil buddies and lying about his activities at the EPA to congress. LOCK HIM UP!
77
I really feel sorry for poor Kel. He is forbidden to work in the finance industry due to his poor ethics. I guess some Reich wing group will have to give him a job since he is practically unemployable by most people, except our ethically challenged secretary of EPA, Mr Pruitt. All you Trump appointees do such disservice to our country it is pathetic.
26
Undoubtedly, Pruitt et al., is the sleaziest group in DC at this time. Trump seems to think that as long as Pruitt destroys the EPA, Pruitt can enlarge his own swamp as much as possible.
Pruitt is masterful at abusing the system, and maximizing his personal gluttony. But Pruitt's time will run out, and he may end up looking out, and not looking in.
37
According to a well-place fictional source speaking on deep background, Pruitt, inspired by Truman, put the following sign in his soundproof phone booth:
The buck stops there.
4
It sounds as if the toxic waste site most in need of clean up is the EPA itself. Pruitt's mendacity and corruption are risible. Kelly was actually barred from banking for questionable activity. Incredible. Banking essentially consists of questionable activity, and this guy got barred? How bad must that have been? Maybe before this is finished we'll find out how Pruitt was able to invest multiple times his modest state salary in Oklahoma.
Is anyone but a crook and a fraud drawn to Trump's team? Apparently not.
107
Only deplorables need apply to his cabal.
11 separate investigations? Why on earth is this guy still a cabinet member?
160
He is a useful distraction for Trump. I suspect he will eventually outlive his usefulness.
8
Now if only Pruitt would resign. That would be really good news for the Environmental Protection Agency and the taxpayers.
15
Pruitt will resign when the Koch brothers tell him his time is up.
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The Trump Swamp is so deep that half the administration has been swallowed up in it.
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"Mr. Kelly, widely known as Kell, was a longtime business associate of Mr. Pruitt’s in his home state of Oklahoma who previously had a banking career before being barred from working in the finance industry."
Having been barred from working in finance, why in the world was he allowed to hold such an influential position in the Federal government?
Never mind - foolish question.
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Golly. Like with Trump, he would like us to believe that the people around him have ethical and legal and possibly criminal issues, but all of that stops several feet from the man himself.
In all seriousness, if Trump or Pruitt did not know this was going on around them, then they're too detached or clueless or easily duped to be a decent executive. And if they did then they are complicit in the offense. Either way they're unfit for the role.
14
It's a recurring pattern for Trump administration. Rats jumping ships as soon as they find out that either they are going to get in legal trouble or that the ship itself is sinking. We need Scott Pruitt to leave as well and he should be forbidden from ever holding any public office.
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How does it happen that a person who is barred from the banking industry becomes a top aide to a cabinet secretary? I would imagine that debarment from the banking industry requires some kind of fraudulent or otherwise dishonest behavior. The fact that Pruitt brought this man with him from Oklahoma speaks very poorly of Pruitt's judgement.
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Extreme vetting ala Trump...
9
The "best people" in action. Corrupt at the top, corrupt at the roots.
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Not to worry, John Kelly is there to make sure everything is running smoothly mow that Jared seems to be off in hiding.
2
The only “Superfund” these people are interested in is the one they are building for their own use.
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I really feel like the NYT needs to take a bow (or curtsy) on this, because when I read the piece last week on the way they were interwoven it seemed clear that Pruitt filled positions solely to reward long-time cronies rather than hire remotely qualified people.
Of course, Pruitt's days at the EPA are numbered as well, but it certainly seems like he's done a lot of damage along the way, and I'm sure his replacement will be of the same ilk.
The new job description should mention that whoever takes over for Pruitt will have a really nice phone booth to talk to industry lobbyists without having to take the blame for buying it.
But I really feel like we should get Pruitt's first class sky miles back while we're at it...
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I see Gov. Brown is calling the EPA Sec'y "Outlaw Pruitt." He has a lot to learn from Trump about infantile name-calling; this is pretty weak tea. Trump, on the other hand, works on a par with the very best 3rd grade boys on the playground. Gov. Brown: not even close.
I don't pretend to be any better. But, here's my own effort, based on this and so many other distressing news reports about the Secretary of the Environmental Pollution Agency: let's call him "Undo-it Pruitt."
You know, like:
The EPA is protecting the air and water? Call in Undo-it Pruitt!
Integrity in government? Not with Undo-it Pruitt!
Saving on expenses and managing professionally? Time for Undo-it Pruitt!
Responsibility for the health and welfare of our kids and grandkids? -- Nope. Sadly, we have Undo-it Pruitt!
Well, I tried. Perhaps, like Trump, I should more deeply revert to my 3rd grade self.
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The buck stops with Pruitt in regards of anything that is happening in the EPA.That Pruitt remains as a member of the Cabinet is a disgrace. The Republicans allowed him to skate through the farce of last week's hearings being asked no tough questions and blaming his underlings for every unethical thing that's happened at the EPA during his tenure thus far. Are there any political appointees in the EPA who are not tainted or corrupt in some way? Pruitt's ethics may as well be a declared Superfund site.
10
I will gladly say that Scott Pruitt will be sorely missed if he'll just leave already. Go, Scott, go! And leave everything the way you found it.
7
Good example of assortative mating. The ethically-challenged Pruitt attracts and retains ethically-challenged aides. We are only starting to learn how common this is across the cabinet. How many others have retained people whose only ideology seems to be "beat the system."
8
Shifting the cost of cleanup of industrial waste onto the public, and away from the companies that are generating the deadly messes, seems to be the focus of today’s Pruitt run EPA.
Privatize profits; socialize costs.
Of course hazmat cleanup is a priority for them. There’s money to be made by cutting corners while making a mess, and more money to be made on the other side of the coin, cleaning it up. Not in their interest to prevent making deadly mess in the first place.
Would not be surprised to learn that some of these privateers have financial interests in both the polluting industries and the companies that do the cleanups. Saving lives, defending property values of others, is of little import to them.
These latest EPA “leaders” should be taken to court for violating their mandate and the public trust.
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What we, yes we, have done to our beautiful planet. Mother nature will certainly repay us for our selfish behavior.
4
Time to drain the filthy swamp at Trump-Pruitt's Environmental Pollution Agency before the they trash the earth, the air and the water for Grand Old Profit.
Get these destroyers away from the environmental rule book.
Vote November 6 2018
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@Socrates -- the irony here is that the EPA agency that is charged with regulating and protecting the environment is more polluted than the presidential cesspool from which noxious gas emissions have emanated for the last fifteen months.
10
Regarding Kelly, why is someone who is banned from banking for life given a top position at the EPA? Does he have a background in environmental work? And how does one poor transaction result in a lifetime ban? This doesn't pass the smell test.
101
What possible comment might be appropriate for someone who has behaved as Sec. Pruitt has behaved?
Might something be "rotten" in the top management of the EPA? From reliable reports in the press (my cursory review), it appears that without proper authorization Mr. Pruitt has spent our taxpayer money on projects that were not approved in the EPA budget and not approved by Congress. It appears Mr. Pruitt has personally benefited financially from suspiciously discounted "rent" and the largess of a lobbyist who is soliciting the EPA on behalf of her clients. He has disavowed the results of objective, disciplined, scientifically developed evidence widely accepted in the scientific community but such evidence contradicts his personal opinions and those views of his generous financial supporters.
I hope there are strong and confident men and women Congressional representatives who have the courage and the intellectual and physical energy to examine carefully all the evidence. Hopefully, they may decide on the culpability of Mr. Pruitt and his minions; and take appropriate action if misbehavior is discovered.
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Kell Kelly's service at the EPA? Task Force? Developing steps? Um, we are talking about Superfund disasters. Developing steps? I'm speechless.
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So am I! We have been cleaning up Superfund Sites for decades but the new head of the agency has to spend time "developing steps" I guess no one in the agency told him that they have a quite extensive protocol for cleaning up the sites.
More likely Mr. Kelly was spending his time and taxpayers money working with the superfund polluters to develop ways to get away with their environmental disasters.
70
Amen, Kickham! I’ve been an environmental consultant working on Superfund sites for decades. The steps are, at this point, well known and tested.
17
These people need to be tried in court for handing the regulatory agency they have been charged with, over to the companies the agency was created to regulate.
154
Kelly “who previously had a banking career before being barred from working in the finance industry”
Being barred in the finance industry isn’t “moving on to greener pastures.” I guess it has to be said: no one with this on their resume should have a position of public trust.
Cronies Uber allies, the Trump motto.
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