The lobbyist couple who rented a room under market rate to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt eventually changed their locks and told Pruitt he must move out because another person would be renting the room, according to a new report.
Last month, reports emerged that Pruitt rented a Capitol Hill condo co-owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist for a rate of $50 a night. Although the original living arrangement was only intended to last six weeks, Pruitt requested that the couple, Vicki and Steve Hart, extend his lease, Politico reports.
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“The original arrangement was that he would be there living out of a suitcase … and it just kept going and going,” someone familiar with the arrangement said, according to Politico.
“There were gentle questions regarding, ok, when are you going to leave and what have you … and they even started sending him ads of places close by that he could rent,” the person said.
Pruitt was eventually informed that the room was going to be rented to another tenant and that he must secure another living arrangement. The family also notified him in August that the locks would be changed.
Pruitt has also come under fire for his travel on first-class flights and the use of his EPA-funded security detail.
Amid reports that White House chief of staff John Kelly wants Pruitt removed, President Trump has publicly shoved aside notions that Pruitt would be fired or moved around.
One report from CNN said Trump had been floating the idea of replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Pruitt.
“Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A.G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege?” Trump tweeted Friday. “Do people really believe this stuff? So much of the media is dishonest and corrupt!”
