EPA/SCOTT PRUITT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Scott Pruitt’s unprecedented 24/7 security detail began at his own request and on his first day as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, according to a letter from the agency’s inspector general, contradicting his claim the around-the-clock protection was a response to an assessment of death threats against him. Pruitt ‘requested 24/7 protection once he was confirmed as Administrator’ EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins wrote in a letter on Monday [5-14-2018]. Pruitt and EPA have defended his security procedures — including first-class airplane seats and a heavily beefed-up team of special agents costing at least $2 million last year — as necessary because of the threat review..After the IG’s letter was released on Monday, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox acknowledged ‘this particular decision was made before Administrator Pruitt arrived at EPA.’ Pruitt took office in February 2017, and the inspector general’s report on threats was made in August, the letter says. That threat summary “is the first and only one ever produced” by the inspector general. The Monday letter was sent to Democratic Sens. Tom Carper and Sheldon Whitehouse, who have questioned the need for the spending and recently said they obtained evidence that the nature of the threats has been overstated.”
-Gregory Wallace, “Pruitt asked for 24/7 security immediately, contradicting previous claims,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 14, 2018 5:18 pm