Environmental Protection Administrator Scott Pruitt tasked members of his round-the-clock security detail to run errands for him, including picking up his dry cleaning and helping him obtain moisturizing lotion, according to a report Thursday.
On one occasion, the Washington Post reported, Pruitt directed security agents to drive him to multiple locations so he could find a favored lotion provided by Ritz-Carlton hotels.
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, reiterated his call that Pruitt step down over the latest revelations.
“Americans deserve an EPA administrator who will work to carry out the agency’s mission to protect the public’s health and our environment,” Carper said Thursday. “Instead, Mr. Pruitt is using this critical agency to do his personal bidding on the taxpayers’ dime. Americans are fed up. Enough is enough.”
The revelations are another example of how Pruitt has used agency staff for personal tasks, including trying to obtain a used mattress for him from the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Millan Hupp, his director of scheduling, admitted Pruitt asked her to secure the mattress on official business hours, during testimony to Congress. She resigned from the EPA this week.
Federal rules say public officials cannot receive gifts from subordinates, including unpaid services. The rules also prevent them from using their office for private gain.
Pruitt is facing more than a dozen federal investigations over his spending, first-class travel, and use of security.
The EPA’s inspector general in April began probing Pruitt for his use of the security detail on personal trips to Disneyland, the Rose Bowl, and college basketball games.
The EPA spent nearly $3.5 million on Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail during his first year on the job, including travel and overtime pay.
He is the first EPA administrator with around-the-clock security. The EPA justifies the constant security presence by saying Pruitt has faced unprecedented threats from people who oppose his deregulatory agenda.
Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta, the former head of Pruitt’s security detail, also recently resigned, leaving the agency as a major figure and witness in federal probes of Pruitt’s spending and ethics.
Former EPA officials, including former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski, who is acting as a whistleblower, have accused Perrotta of encouraging Pruitt’s spending.
[Related: EPA bought 12 customized pens for $1,560]
