New allegations as Pruitt quits
LOS ANGELES: Scott Pruitt’s controversial reign as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency has come to an end, with the latest scandal involving allegations he attempted to hide meetings with Australia’s Cardinal George Pell at the Vatican.
The New York Times and CNN, quoting former EPA staff, reported yesterday Mr Pruitt’s aides retroactively deleted meetings from his public schedule in what could be potential violations of the US Federal Records Act.
US President Donald Trump has been under pressure for months to fire Mr Pruitt, who has aggressively eradicated environmental protections while facing a constant wave of scandals and potential ethics violations.
‘‘Within the Agency Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this,’’ Mr Trump, announcing Mr Pruitt’s resignation in a tweet yesterday, wrote.
Mr Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations Kevin Chmielewski told CNN EPA staffers routinely met in Mr Pruitt’s office to ‘‘scrub’’, alter or remove records from his official calendar.
Mr Pruitt’s meetings and a dinner with Cardinal Pell in Italy in June last year did not appear on Mr Pruitt’s official calendar.
‘‘All of our time at the Vatican was spent with Cardinal Pell,’’ Chmielewski told CNN.
The New York Times published a report shortly before Mr Pruitt’s resignation yesterday alleging one of his senior schedulers was fired after questioning the practice of retroactively deleting meetings.
The other scandals Mr Pruitt faced included attempting to buy a used mattress from the Trump Hotel in Washington DC and seeking a ‘‘business opportunity’’ for his wife with the fastfood chain ChickfilA.