Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on Wednesday described his controversial trip to Morocco last year as business-related, fighting accusations that the visit was inappropriate and needlessly expensive.
Pruitt told the Senate Appropriations Interior-Environment Subcommittee that he was in the country strictly to work out the environmental side of a free-trade deal between Morocco and the United States.
“I’m so glad you asked these questions about Morocco,” Pruitt said in response to questions from Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., who called the trip “fishy.”
“It’s one of those situations,” Pruitt added. “We were on the ground for 36 hours. To characterize the Morocco trip as anything other than EPA business is simply a mischaracterization.”
The EPA spent more than $100,000 on Pruitt’s trip to Morocco in December, the Washington Post has reported. The airfare alone cost $16,217, and the agency spent another $494 for Pruitt to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris.
[Related: Energy Secretary Rick Perry walks tightrope on Scott Pruitt’s trip to Morocco]
Comcast lobbyist Richard Smotkin, who has known Pruitt for years, helped plan the trip.
Since the visit, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract with the Moroccan government to promote the country’s cultural and economic interests.
Pruitt on Wednesday said the Moroccan ambassador to the U.S. requested the EPA chief visit the country.
The EPA’s inspector general is investigating the Morocco trip as part of a probe into Pruitt’s travel and security costs. Critics have questioned the trip and his focus on liquefied natural gas exports, which fall under the Energy Department’s purview. Early statements from the EPA’s press office about the trip hyped Pruitt’s focus on natural gas exports.
[Also read: Scott Pruitt blames EPA staff, policies for lavish security spending]
