Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s condo lease with an energy lobbyist originally included the name of the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, as the landlord, even though he doesn’t own the condo.
J. Steven Hart’s wife, Vicki Hart, owns the condo.
But, on Pruitt’s lease, which the Washington Examiner obtained, J. Steven Hart’s name was originally typed as “landlord” but was scratched out. The name of his wife, Vicki Hart, was scribbled over his name in pen.
Asked why J. Steven Hart’s name was crossed off retroactively from the lease, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told the Washington Examiner: “As we have always said, Vicki Hart is the sole owner of this unit.”
Vicki Hart is also lobbyist, but she does work for the healthcare industry and does no lobbying before the EPA, her husband said.
J. Steven Hart, however, is the CEO of Williams and Jensen. His firm has clients with businesses relevant to the EPA’s regulatory efforts, including Cheniere Energy and Exxon Mobil. Cheniere is the largest natural gas exporter in the U.S.
Pruitt’s EPA granted a favorable ruling to a pipeline company represented by J. Steven Hart’s company.
Hart also donated to Pruitt’s campaigns to be attorney general of Oklahoma, according to campaign finance records.
He recently told the Washington Post that he “had no lobbying contact with EPA in 2017 or 2018” and referred to Pruitt as a “casual friend.”
In recent interviews, however, Pruitt has said he has known Hart for years.
Federal ethics rules say government officials must be impartial when making regulatory decisions. Pruitt signed an ethics pledge when joining the Trump administration promising not to accept gifts from lobbyists.
The top ethics official of the EPA, Kevin Minoli, said Wednesday he did not have all the facts when he ruled that the lease agreement reflected fair market value and did not violate federal gift rules.
Pruitt, from late February to early August of last year, paid $50 per night for a single bedroom in the Capitol Hill condo. He was charged only for the nights he stayed there.
Minoli said he did not evaluate J. Steven Hart’s business interests, or his firm’s, when making his determination that the condo was fair and not a gift.
In other words, he did not consider whether renting from the wife of an energy lobbyist would violate ethics rules.
Pruitt on Wednesday denied J. Steven Hart had business before the EPA.
“Mr. Hart has no clients that had business before this agency,” Pruitt told Fox News.
The White House and the EPA’s inspector general are both investigating the condo lease.
