Former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation has caused the department’s internal investigator to close two probes into his conduct.
EPA Acting Inspector General Charles Sheehan told Congress in a report this week that Pruitt resigned before his office had a chance to interview the administrator, leaving them unable to conclude the investigation into his renting a condominium from the wife of a lobbyist and the probe into his instructing government staff to find work for his wife.
Pruitt left the EPA last summer after a series of controversies over his expenses, specifically his flying first-class, having a $43,000 soundproof booth installed in his office, and requesting a 24-hour protection detail that ended up costing more than $3 million.
“While assessing the Administrator’s use of hiring authorities under the Safe Drinking Water Act, we found that six employees received substantial pay increases along with conversions of their positions,” the report reads. “We issued a ‘management alert’ to so notify the agency while our broader audit work on the matter continues. In addition, our audit of the Administrator’s Protective Service Detail found that the agency had no approved standard operating procedures to address the level of protection required or how those services are provided.”
“Mr. Pruitt resigned prior to being interviewed by investigators,” Sheehan said in the report, which is given to Congress semi-annually. “For that reason, the OIG [Office of the Inspector General] deemed that the result of the investigation was inconclusive. The case will be closed.”
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