Scott Pruitt, the former head of the Environment Agency during the Trump administration, regularly asks for his federal safety details on speeding and using sirens and hazard lights because he is late to meetings. according to a federal report released Thursday.
In one case in 2017, a special agent lit a vehicle with car lights and a siren. The administrator was late for the agency meeting and he had to hire a dry cleaner.
“Can you use this magic button to get traffic?” Pruitt said on another occasion, according to the report. Other reports include Pruitt, who says “speed up” and “we need to get there faster,” creating an awkward atmosphere in his vehicles, the document says.
The report was prepared in June 2018, but was only released this week. უ New York Times He was the first to report on the document.
The Times added that officials knew that the use of sirens and emergency lamps – used only in emergencies – violated federal policy, but they found it difficult to disobey Prut, who regularly delayed events and meetings.
A former Pruitt collaborator described his request for the use of light as “too disgusting, excessive and more dangerous for everyone”.
The special agent interviewed for the report said he went so far as to tell other agents to turn off or remove the lights and sirens: “Why not use them because the administrator is still teaching them to use them, but can say agents. who don’t use them. don’t work. “
The EPA now requires the agency to report any violations of its siren policy.
Pruitt stepped down after a controversial term in July 2018, followed by numerous ethical scandals and more than a dozen federal investigations. He was criticized for regularly spending thousands of dollars on first-class flights to Oklahoma and for embezzling $ 43,000 in taxpayer money to build a quiet phone booth in his office.
The EPA finally ruled that Pruitt had spent nearly $ 124,000 on “extra” travel plans.
Details of Pruitt’s position will almost certainly be known in the coming months after he nominates Republicans to the U.S. Senate. He is fighting for the seat occupied by longtime GO senator Jim Inhoff.
“I think people in Oklahoma know when the New York Times, CNN and MSNBC and these places are against you, the people in Oklahoma are on your side,” Pruitt told The Associated Press in April .
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.