EPA/ETHICS/SCOTT PRUITT: “The chairman of the House Oversight Committee — in a prominent instance of Republican scrutiny of the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt — demanded on Wednesday [2-21-18] that the E.P.A. chief turn over documents related to his first-class travel at taxpayer expense.
Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, called on Mr. Pruitt to detail all his government travel since assuming leadership of the E.P.A. one year ago. He raised a particular concern over conflicting statements from Mr. Pruitt’s press office about whether the administrator had a waiver to fly first class at all times… Mr. Pruitt has been under fire for his travel since The Washington Post reported that he routinely flies first or business class, and that he and top aides had spent more than $90,000 on airfare in the first few weeks of June alone.
Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the E.P.A., initially issued a statement that said that Mr. Pruitt had a ‘blanket waiver’ to fly first class out of concern for his security. Mr. Wilcox later amended that to say that the E.P.A. did in fact submit a waiver for each trip… Mr. Gowdy asked that Mr. Pruitt’s travel information be handed over by 5 p.m. on March 6. Mr. Wilcox on Wednesday declined to comment on Mr. Gowdy’s letter, saying in an email, ‘We will respond to Chairman Gowdy through the proper channel.’ “
-Lisa Friedman, “Senior Republican Calls for E.P.A. Chief’s First-Class Travel Files,” The New York Times online, Feb. 21, 2018