Pruitt had aide try to buy Trump Hotel mattress

WASHINGTON — Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt had a top aide seek a used mattress from the Trump International Hotel and perform other personal chores for him, including house-hunting and booking personal travel, according to testimony released Monday.

Millan Hupp’s transcribed interview last month before a panel of House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staffers marks the first public accounting from one of Pruitt’s closest aides on personal errands that she said the EPA chief had her perform. The transcript was released Monday by committee Democrats.

Asked about an email from her to managers of the Trump hotel, Hupp said Pruitt was trying to get a used mattress.

“The administrator had spoken with someone at the Trump Hotel, who had indicated there could be a mattress he could purchase, an old mattress he could purchase,” said Hupp, the EPA administrator’s director of scheduling who came to Washington with Pruitt.

She said she did not know what Pruitt planned to do with any mattress.

Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Gerald Connolly of Virginia of the House oversight committee called the errands a violation of federal law on gifts from subordinates and asked the majority to subpoena agency records that they said were being withheld.

“If Ms. Hupp’s statements to the committee are accurate, Administrator Pruitt crossed a very clear line and must be held accountable,” they wrote to the committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican.

Gowdy’s spokeswoman Amanda Gonzalez criticized the Democrats for “selectively releasing” portions of closeddoor testimony, saying it could undermine the investigation.

EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not answer questions about the mattress, including whether Pruitt actually got one and, if so, how much he paid.

A mattress deal between Pruitt and his boss’ business would breach ethics codes only if the hotel did not usually sell mattresses to the public or if Pruitt got a special deal, Craig Holman of the nonpartisan Public Citizen watchdog group said.

But he said asking Hupp to carry out personal errands would be violating federal ethics rules.

The EPA’s Office of Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office and the House Oversight Committee are conducting a dozen separate investigations into alleged misspending and ethical missteps involving Pruitt and his top aides.