EPA chief attributes travel costs to security, lack of ‘civility’
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Tuesday attributed his habit of taking taxpayer-funded, firstclass flights to his personal security detail and chief of staff, saying he plays no role in his travel arrangements.
“I’m not involved in any of those decisions,” Pruitt told the New Hampshire Union Leader during a visit to the state. “Those are all made by the (security) de- Scott Pruitt says he doesn’t handle travel arrangements. tail, the security assessment in addition to the chief of staff.”
Pruitt told the newspaper that the decision to routinely fly business- and first-class around the country and even internationally stemmed from unspecified threats early in his tenure at EPA. “We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment,” said Pruitt, who acknowledged he had just flown first-class from Washington to Boston to reach New Hampshire. “We’ve reached the point where there’s not much civility in the marketplace, and it’s created, you know, it’s created some issues and the (security) detail, the level of protection, is determined by the level of threat.”
The comments came after The Post reported details about dozens of firstclass flights Pruitt had taken through last summer, as well as his penchant for staying at luxury hotels.
For instance, taxpayers paid at least $90,000 for Pruitt and a group of aides to travel during a brief stretch last June, on trips that included first- class flights for television inter- views in New York and a visit with officials in Rome. That figure does not account for the costs of Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail, which have not been disclosed.
On at least four occasions, he has spent between $2,000 and $2,600 on firstclass airfare to official meetings or tours near Tulsa, Okla., where he lives. Frequently, he stayed in Tulsa for the weekend, according to travel records.
The agency has not disclosed the nature of any threats against Pruitt or why traveling in a first-class cabin is considered safer than sitting in a coach seat. But the EPA’s assistant inspector general for investigations told The Post last year that Pruitt has gotten more threats than his recent predecessors.
Meanwhile, the inspector general’s office is conducting probes of Pruitt’s travel last year and the expansion of his security detail, which requires several times the resources of his predecessors.