EPA chief Pruitt paid $50 a night for D.C. condo linked to lobbyist

WASHINGTON — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency paid just $50 a night to stay in a Capitol Hill condominium linked to a prominent Washington lobbyist whose firm represents fossil fuel companies, officials acknowledged Friday.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt paid for a single bedroom in the building about a block from the U.S. Capitol, staying for about six months in 2017. Three units inside the building belong to a corporation co-owned by the wife of J. Steven Hart, the chairman and CEO of the powerhouse lobbying firm Williams and Jensen PLLC, according to records.

The firm’s clients include Exxon Mobil Corp. and the major liquefied natural gas exporter Cheniere Energy Inc. — companies that have billions at stake in regulatory decisions over which Pruitt presides. In at least one case, Pruitt met in his EPA office with a lobbyist from Hart’s firm while he was renting the room, records showed.

The $50-per-night rate is significantly lower than advertised rates for rentals in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. One-bedroom apartments range between $1,600 and $2,500 a month, depending on amenities. Single rooms listed online for one-night rentals averaged about $120 a night.

It was too soon to know whether Pruitt — who previously was criticized over high travel expenses — will face any consequences or draw the ire of President Donald Trump. White House officials, who expressed frustration by the optics of Pruitt’s living arrangements, were reviewing the seriousness of the issue, according to a White House official not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

An ethics lawyer at EPA, Justina Fugh, told The Associated Press that Pruitt’s rental agreement allowed him to pay only for nights he occupied the room, totaling about $6,000 in payments over the term of the lease.

Fugh said she was first briefed by other EPA officials about the terms of lease on Thursday, shortly after ABC News first reported on Pruitt’s prior living arrangements. Fugh said she was not asked to review the lease or issue a formal legal opinion on it, though she did not immediately see it as an ethical concern since Pruitt paid for the room.

Fugh said she was told Pruitt has since moved to another apartment, though she said she was not privy to any details about where the administrator is currently staying, who owns that property or what rate he is paying.