The conservative free-market group FreedomWorks has started what could become a last-ditch effort to defend Scott Pruitt, Trump’s embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief, from the throngs of what it calls a liberal attack to oust him.
“The radical left is running a smear campaign against @EPAScottPruitt in an attempt to force him out of the EPA,” the group tweeted late Thursday, before urging its followers to call the White House.
“Call @realDonaldTrump at 202-849-7922 right now. Tell him you support Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator! #StandWithScottPruitt #ampFW,” the group urged on social media.
“Scott Pruitt has worked hard to return the EPA to its core mission: protecting the environment as directed by Congress; instead of the rogue assault on the rule of law, freedom, and the economy that we saw in the prior administration,” said Adam Brandon, the group’s president.
On the other side of the debate, David Doniger, climate chief for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who is part of the #BootPruitt campaign, saw a lot of bad for Pruitt on Thursday.
Take, for instance, the news about energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart’s name being scratched out on Pruitt’s condo lease and the name of his wife, Vicki, placed above it. “It suggests they were trying to hide the direct nature of the sweetheart relationship between Pruitt and a lobbyist for energy industry polluters,” Doniger told the Washington Examiner.
J. Steven Hart has active ties to a prominent natural gas export firm, Cheniere Energy. Media reports are speculating that Pruitt’s trip to Morocco last year to promote energy exports may have been to the benefit of the client, since Cheniere is a major shipper.
