Filings add to Pruitt, lobbyist ties
Firm: Ex-exec’s contact with EPA chief closer than thought
WASHINGTON — Newly filed reports show the Washington lobbyist linked to a bargain-priced Capitol Hill condo leased by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt had far more contact with the agency than previously disclosed, despite repeated denials by both men.
Powerhouse lobbying firm Williams & Jensen amended its 2017 disclosure filings to show that former chairman J. Steven Hart contacted EPA on behalf of the Coca-Cola Co., pork producer Smithfield Foods and a board overseeing the finances of hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
Pruitt has denied that Hart lobbied his agency in 2017, most recently during congressional testimony last month. The firm amended its required federal lobbying disclosures after an extensive review of Hart’s emails, calendar entries and other materials.
Hart was forced to retire early as a result of the scandal that broke out after public disclosure of the EPA chief’s unusual living arrangements. Pruitt has denied wrongdoing, describing Hart as a personal friend from his home state of Oklahoma.
In a statement, Williams & Jensen said Hart had failed to fully disclose his lobbying activities to his own firm, resulting in previous reports omitting information. Federal law requires lobbyists to file quarterly reports detailing their contacts with government officials, including the clients they were representing, what topics were discussed and how much they were paid.
“Following press reports of a former member of our firm engaging in lobbying activity that had not been disclosed, we engaged outside counsel to conduct a review of relevant filings,” the firm’s statement said. “Following the completion of that review and the advice of counsel, today the firm filed amendments to several disclosure reports that include information that was not previously disclosed to our firm and therefore not included in the original filings.”
Both Pruitt and Hart have publicly denied that the lobbyist had conducted any business with the EPA in 2017. At a May 16 hearing before a Senate appropriations subcommittee, the embattled EPA chief erroneously insisted that Hart had not lobbied the government last year.
A spokesman for Hart did not respond to phone or email requests for comment Friday.
Media outlets reported in April that Pruitt had met in his office last year with Hart on behalf of the philanthropic arm of Smithfield Foods to discuss efforts to preserve the Chesapeake Bay. The world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield has been involved with efforts to clean up the bay since the EPA fined the company $12.6 million in 1997 for illegally dumping hog waste into a tributary.
The amended disclosure report filed Friday by Williams & Jensen acknowledges that the meeting between Hart and Pruitt constituted lobbying.
In a statement issued by Smithfield, the company said the lobbying was directed by a retired executive and it had been unaware of the contacts made by Hart.
The new disclosure report says Hart also lobbied EPA in 2017 on behalf of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico about water quality and infrastructure in the wake of Hurricane Maria. A spokesman for the oversight board did not immediately respond Friday to an email seeking comment.
The firm also disclosed for the first time that Hart had contact with the EPA on behalf of Coca-Cola. According to the reports, Hart lobbied the agency about clean water supplies, water conservation and “environmental issues impacting the beverage industry, including hydrofluorocarbon replacement.”
Hydrofluorocarbons are potent greenhouse gases commonly used for refrigeration. Under former President Barack Obama’s administration, the EPA had sought to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons because they contribute to global warming, but the effort was stymied after industries challenged the proposed ban in court.
In a statement issued Friday, Coca-Cola said the company has severed ties with Williams & Jensen.
Separately, Pruitt is also under scrutiny over a University of Kentucky basketball game he attended with his son in December. Pruitt and his son sat in a section reserved for season-ticket holders who had donated at least $1 million to the university.
The seats belonged to Joseph Craft, a billionaire coal executive who has engaged in an aggressive campaign to reverse the Obama administration’s environmental crackdown on the coal industry. Craft and his wife donated more than $2 million to support Trump’s candidacy and inauguration.
Pruitt’s attendance at the game, the details of which have not been previously reported, followed a year of regulatory victories for Craft, who maintains close ties to Pruitt even as he has lobbied the EPA on issues important to his company, Alliance Resource Partners.
Jahan Wilcox, an EPA spokesman, said Pruitt paid $130 in cash for each basketball game ticket. An email from the EPA ethics office approving in advance the purchase of the tickets said that payment would be made by check, but since it was a cash transaction, there is no receipt.
“Administrator Pruitt and Joe Craft are longtime friends,” Wilcox said.