The head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics has sent a strong letter to the EPA warning the actions of its chief, Administrator Scott Pruitt, “may constitute a violation” of the official standards of government ethics. The letter comes just after President Trump took to Twitter to issue his strongest defense yet of the embattled head of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The success of our government depends on maintaining the trust of the people we serve,” David Apol, acting director of the Office of Government Ethics said, in a letter to the E.P.A. The New York Times’ Eric Lipton first reported the letter.
“The American public needs to have confidence that ethics violations, as well as the appearance of ethics violations, are investigated and appropriately addressed,” Apol writes. He calls on the EPA to take action to appropriately address any violations.
Pruitt is under fire for numerous expensive trips around the world and in the U.S. that have cost taxpayers at least $3 million already. He’s also come under scrutiny for a shady $50 a night room rental in the tony D.C. condo owned by a lobbyist whose husband, also a lobbyist, has business before the EPA.
Along with those breaches, Pruitt authorized raises for two staff members he brought with him from Oklahoma, and demoted or transferred at least five employee whistleblowers who voiced concerns over Pruitt’s actions.
Apol writes, “it is hard to imagine any action that could more effectively undermine an agency’s integrity than punishing or marginalizing employees who strive to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations that safeguard integrity.”
The letter, dated Friday, was not sent until Monday morning, Lipton reports. He posted it in full to Twitter: