Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s security detail broke down the door of the Capitol Hill condo where he was living last March, believing he was unconscious, but it turns out he was only sleeping, according to a report Friday.
The incident occurred on March 29, 2017, in a Washington condo Pruitt lived in during his first year in office that is co-owned by the wife of an energy industry lobbyist.
A Capitol Police officer called 911 at the request of Pruitt’s security detail, which had tried unsuccessfully reaching him by phone, and by banging on the condo’s front door, according to police recordings obtained by ABC News.
“They say he’s unconscious at this time,” the 911 operator was told.
The protective detail then broke down the door to the condo. Pruitt was waking up from a nap and declined medical attention. A police report was not filed.
The EPA reimbursed the condo owner for the damage to the door, at taxpayer expense, ABC News said.
The report of the door incident comes as Pruitt is being scrutinized for an unusual living arrangement he secured at the condo, which is co-owned by the wife of energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart.
Bloomberg reported that Pruitt paid $50 per night for a single bedroom in the condo, only paying on the nights he actually slept there. In all, Pruitt paid $6,100 to use the room for roughly six months. He no longer lives there.
Pruitt worked directly with Hart to arrange the deal, ABC News reported.
Justina Fugh, the EPA ethics counsel, said the living arrangement doesn’t violate ethics rules because Pruitt paid rent.
“I don’t conclude that this is a prohibited gift at all. It was a routine business transaction and permissible even if from a personal friend,” Fugh told the Washington Examiner.
But Fugh later said she was unaware when she made that assessment that Pruitt’s adult daughter lived in a second bedroom in the same building during an internship at the White House last summer, as ABC News reported.
An EPA spokesman confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Pruitt rented a bedroom in the condo. He did not mention Pruitt’s daughter also occupying a room.
“While transitioning to Washington, Administrator Pruitt signed a lease to rent a bedroom in a condo and he moved out at the end of July,” said spokesman Jahan Wilcox.
The EPA on Friday night issued a new memo from the agency’s ethics office saying that Pruitt’s condo rental complies with ethics rules and is not a gift. The memo, provided to the Washington Examiner, claims Pruitt paid “reasonable market value” for the rent. It said the lease authorized Pruitt and his immediate family, including his wife and family, to stay in the condo.
“As EPA career ethics officials stated in a memo, Administrator Pruitt’s housing arrangement for both himself and family was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations,” Wilcox said.
Hart, the energy lobbyist, is CEO of Williams and Jensen. He has clients with business relevant to the EPA’s regulatory efforts, including Cheniere Energy Inc. and railroad company Norfolk Southern. Cheniere is the largest natural gas exporter in the U.S.
The firm also says it lobbies on issues related to the Clean Air Act, which the EPA administers.
Hart is a Republican donor who served in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. He donated to Pruitt’s campaigns to be attorney general of Oklahoma, according to campaign finance records.
The condo that Pruitt occupied is owned by a company that lists Vicki Hart, the lobbyist’s wife, as an owner. Hart is a lobbyist for the healthcare industry, and she does no lobbying before the EPA, her husband said.
Pruitt has faced scrutiny during his tenure over his spending on security and travel.
The EPA inspector general is investigating him for his use of first-class and military flights and his frequent travel as administrator to his home state of Oklahoma.
The internal watchdog is also probing whether Pruitt broke federal spending laws by using $25,000 in taxpayer money to install a secure phone booth in his office.
Pruitt has deflected criticism of his travel habits by saying he faces “unprecedented” security threats from taunting travelers, which has prompted EPA career security staff to grant him waivers to sit in first class. Pruitt this month vowed to curtail his frequent first-class travel, saying he will fly coach if threats to his security can be managed.
Pruitt is the first EPA administrator to have a 24-hour security detail.
