Two top Environmental Protection Agency officials who have been at the center of controversy surrounding Administrator Scott Pruitt have resigned.
The EPA Tuesday announced the departure of Albert “Kell” Kelly, who led the agency’s Superfund program that helps clean up hazardous sites.
Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta, the head of Pruitt’s security detail, also resigned Monday, and is leaving the agency as a major figure and witness in federal probes of Pruitt’s spending and ethics.
Kelly attracted controversy over a revelation that he was barred from working in the finance industry because of a banking violation. He is a former banking executive and friend of Pruitt’s from his home state of Oklahoma. He was banned last year from the banking industry by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The “order of prohibition from further participation” in the banking industry explained that the FDIC had determined Kelly’s “unfitness to serve as a director, officer, person participating in the conduct of the affairs or as an institution-affiliated party of the Bank, any other insured depository institution.”
The Intercept, which first reported Kelly’s banking problems, said Pruitt has received loans from Kelly’s bank.
In a statement, Pruitt praised Kelly’s work. The EPA administrator has made faster cleanup of Superfund sites a priority, and has criticized previous administrations for moving too slowly.
“Kell Kelly’s service at EPA will be sorely missed. In just over a year he has made a tremendous impact on EPA’s Superfund program, serving as chair of the Superfund Task Force and presiding over the development of the steps necessary to implement the recommendations in the report,” he said, referring to a list of recommendations on bolstering cleanups issued last year.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday is planning to interview Perrotta, charged with leading Pruitt’s 24/7 security detail, as part of the panel’s probe into the EPA administrator’s spending and ethics.
Perrotta resigned Monday and plans to “fully cooperate and answer any and all questions” from Congress, starting with a transcribed interview with the oversight committee, led by Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.
Perrotta is a former Security Service agent who also helped investigate the Gambino crime family for the Bronx district attorney in New York City. He is at the center of several federal probes into Pruitt’s spending, which has involved about $3 million spent on his security, including travel and overtime pay for Pruitt’s detail, much of it approved by Perrotta.
Former EPA officials, including former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski, who is acting as a whistleblower, have charged Perrotta with goading Pruitt’s spending.
Chmielewski said he was “100 percent” forced out of the agency after raising concerns about Pruitt’s spending on first-class travel. Chmielewski, who worked on the campaign staff for President Trump, said Perrotta worked to discredit him for questioning Pruitt’s decisions.
Pruitt testified to the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week that there is “no truth” to the reports that some EPA employees have faced retaliation after disagreeing with his spending or management decisions.
Chmielewski also recently told Senate Democrats that Perrotta hired Italian security guards to protect Pruitt on a trip to Italy in June 2017.
The EPA inspector general is investigating Perrotta for directing an EPA contract to a business partner who conducted a search for surveillance devices in Pruitt’s office, according to the New York Times. He was already planning to retire this year, the EPA said.
“Nino Perrotta has selflessly served the American people for more than 23 years, beginning his career as a special agent with the United States Secret Service and then serving four EPA administrators,” Pruitt said. “His hard work and dedication will be missed by all those who worked with him. I want to thank him for his service and wish him the very best in retirement.”
