Inhofe defends Pruitt after talk

Allegations of wrongdoing by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt are almost all fabrications traceable to liberal activist Tom Steyer and some disgruntled former employees, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe said Wednesday.

“I was getting kind of weak on (Pruitt) myself,” Inhofe, who last week said it might be time for Pruitt to leave the EPA, said by telephone from Washington.

“I had a long meeting with him (Tuesday) night,” Inhofe said. “We went over these accusations one by one, and it turns out they’re totally wrong.”

Pruitt is the subject of at least 13 official inquiries into his management of the EPA, and his personal financial dealings and actions as Oklahoma attorney general from 2011 to 2017 have been the subjects of numerous news reports and even lawsuits.

Wednesday, though, Inhofe said Steyer is “behind all of this.”

Aleigha Cavalier, communication’s director for Steyer’s NextGenAmerica, seemed to dismiss the notion in an emailed statement previously given to Bloomberg News.

“Scott Pruitt is a national disgrace,” Cavalier said, “and has no one to blame but himself. He should resign immediately.”

Steyer is a billionaire financier whose support of liberal and environmental causes has made him something of a bogeyman to conservatives, much like the Koch Brothers are to liberals.

Among his current projects, Steyer is pushing for the impeachment of Donald Trump. In January he pledged $30 million to help elect Democrats to Congress.

In May, Steyer’s Twitter account called Pruitt “an ethical disaster” who “champions short-term theft of public resources for private gain.”

Steyer is not the only person critical of Pruitt, however. Even some Republicans are questioning his judgment and ethics after a series of reports of private fundraising in office and large expenditures for security.

Wednesday, Inhofe defended Pruitt in interviews with both Oklahomaand Washingtonbased reporters.

He said prior financial dealings that became the subject of scrutiny after Pruitt was nominated to head the EPA were “legitimate” transactions, and that Pruitt needed unprecedented security because of death threats Inhofe suggested were also somehow connected to Steyer.

“No other administrator has had the kind of death threats (Pruitt) has,” Inhofe said. “I can’t talk about them for security reasons, but he has had them.”

Inhofe said a muchcited soundproof phone booth Pruitt had built in his Washington office was necessary because Pruitt is supposed to have a “secure phone.”

“I have a secure phone, but I’ve never used it,” Inhofe said.

The phone, he said, is kept in a cabinet.

Inhofe has long been one of Pruitt’s staunchest allies and mentors, and many in Oklahoma believe he could succeed the 83-year-old senator should he choose not to seek re-election in 2020.

On Wednesday, Inhofe tangled with one of his colleagues, Democrat Tom Carper of Delaware, when Carper criticized Pruitt during an Environment and Public Works Committee meeting.

“I blew up. I used the ‘L’ word,” Inhofe said, the ‘L’ word being ‘lie.’”