Scott Pruitt Asked Top Aide to Help His Wife Secure a $200,000 Job at a Conservative Group

By Elliot Hannon, Slate

03 July 18

cott Pruitt was in the news again Monday for the usual, trying to use his official position in the federal government to gain personal favors, this time (again) in the form of a job for his wife. The Washington Post reports the EPA administrator enlisted subordinates in his effort to land his wife a $200,000+ job with the Republican Attorneys General Association, an organization Pruitt once led. The latest on Pruitt’s willingness to engage in blatantly unethical behavior came from interviews conducted by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee with two members of the EPA head’s staff, Samantha Dravis, a former associate administrator for the Office of Policy and Pruitt chief of staff Ryan Jackson.

 From the Post:

Both aides described instances in which their boss pressed to travel first-class or via private jet, while Dravis acknowledged that Pruitt asked his subordinates to do non-official work for him, multiple individuals said… According to an individual with knowledge of the matter, Dravis told congressional staffers that Pruitt initially asked her to contact the Republican Attorneys General Association—a group Pruitt had once led and Dravis had worked for before coming to EPA — as part of the job search for his wife. Dravis said she declined to make that call to avoid any potential conflicts of interest or possible violations of the Hatch Act, which limits federal officials’ political activities.

 Dravis did help Pruitt’s wife find a job at Judicial Crisis Network that paid her short of six figures, according to the conservative group. “The new accounts by Pruitt’s handpicked staff come as EPA’s chief ethics officer, Kevin Minoli, has urged the agency’s Office of Inspector General to broaden its review of Pruitt’s conduct,” according to the Post. “Minoli told the Office of Government Ethics in a letter dated Wednesday that he suggested the move after ‘additional potential issues regarding Mr. Pruitt have come to my attention through sources within the EPA and media reports.’”