EPA employees spoke out — then came scrutiny of email
Sequence of events creates wave of fear in department.
— One EnviWASHINGTON ronmental Protection Agency employee spoke up at a private lunch held near the agency headquarters, saying she feared the nation might be headed toward an “environmental catastro- phe.” Another staff member, from Seattle, sent a let- ter to Scott Pruitt, the EPA administrator, raising similar concerns about the direc- tion of the agency. A third, from Philadelphia, went to a rally where he protested against agency budget cuts.
Three different agency employees, in different jobs, from three different cities, but each encountered a simi- lar outcome: Federal records show that within a matter of days, requests were submit- ted for copies of emails writ- ten by them that mentioned either Pruitt or President Donald Trump, or any communication with Democrats in Congress that might have been critical of the agency.
The requests came from a Virginia-based lawyer working with America Rising, a Republican campaign research group that special- izes in helping party candidates and conservative groups find damaging information on political rivals, and which, in this case, was looking for information that could embarrass the employees who had criticized the EPA.
Now a company affiliated with America Rising, named Definers Public Affairs, has been hired by the EPA to provide “media monitoring,” in a move the agency said was intended to keep better track of newspaper and video stories about EPA operations nationwide.
But the sequence of events has created a wave of fear among employees, partic- ularly those already under surveillance, who said offi- cial assurances hardly put them at ease.
“This is a witch hunt against EPA employees who are only trying to protect human health and the environment,” said Gary Morton, the EPA employee in Philadelphia, who works on preventing spills from under- ground storage tanks. His emails were targeted seven days after he participated in a union rally in March chal- lenging proposed budget cuts. “What they are doing is trying to intimidate and bully us into silence,” he said.
The contract with Definers comes at a time of height- ened tension between the news media and the Trump administration. Within the EPA, the move is also part of a bellicose media strategy that has been helped at key moments by America Rising — even before its affiliate was hired by the agency.
An EPA official vehemently defended the $120,000 contract to Definers, saying it filled a need in the media office for an improved clipping service.
“Definers was awarded the contract to do our press clips at a rate that is $87,000 cheaper than our previous vendor, and they are providing no other services,” a spokesman for the EPA, Jahan Wilcox, wrote in an email.
Joe Pounder, a founder of Definers Public Affairs, said several government agencies had contacted his firm about its news-tracking tool, called Definers Console, because they were seeking a service that does a better job of keeping up with the fast-paced news cycle, including tracking of livestreamed videos. He said that agency staff members familiar with the company’s work approached the firm about putting forward a bid and that Pruitt himself was not, to his knowledge, involved in the decision to select Definers.
“I hope employees realize after a few months that we are providing a really great and invaluable service that advances their mission,” Pounder said.