EPA/SCOTT PRUITT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “On a trip to Morocco last year, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and his staff missed a connecting flight and spent more than 24 hours in Paris because his security detail’s weapons and other gear couldn’t be transferred between the planes in time, his former security chief told congressional staffers last week. That’s according to aides to the House oversight committee, which is investigating Pruitt’s pricey taxpayer-funded travel, including the use of premium seats by the embattled administrator and his security chief. Pasquale ‘Nino’ Perrotta’s early retirement from EPA was announced shortly before he met with oversight committee staff. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss Perrotta’s closed-door interview. Perrotta’s account differed from EPA’s official explanation for Pruitt’s lengthy Paris layover in December, which the agency had blamed on poor weather. While it is true that Pruitt’s departure from Washington was delayed by snow, a review of flight records by The Associated Press shows he could have made a connecting flight and a reserved a back-up flight to Morocco if not for the complications over his security team’s guns and gear.”
-Ellen Knickmeyer and Michael Biesecker, “Ex-aide to EPA chief testifies on costly trip to Morocco,” The Associated Press, May 8, 2018 3:18 pm