WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency’s chief ethics officer has urged the agency’s inspector general to investigate various allegations that administrator Scott Pruitt misused his government position.
Kevin Minoli, who initially had approved a $50-a-night condo rental and other decisions by Pruitt, told the Office of Government Ethics in a letter dated Wednesday that he was recommending the additional inquiries.
Minoli said in the letter that ‘‘additional potential issues regarding Mr. Pruitt have come to my attention through sources within the EPA and media reports.’’
As chief ethics officer, Minoli focuses on ensuring that EPA employees abide by federal laws governing conduct.
The letter does not spell out the precise actions that triggered Minoli’s concern. But a government official with direct knowledge of the inquiries said the referrals involved instances in which Pruitt potentially misused his position, such as having subordinates help with his housing search, inquire about a mattress, or secure tickets to the Rose Bowl.
Federal standards of conduct bar public officials from accepting free services or gifts from their subordinates, and from using their position for their own financial benefit.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because details have not been released publicly.
The official said the referrals also included a $2,000 payment that Pruitt’s wife received last year to help with logistics at an annual conference for the New York nonprofit group Concordia, the official said.
Pruitt also spoke at the conference and had introduced his wife to the group’s chief executive as part of a broader push to find her employment.
‘‘To the best of my knowledge, all of the matters that I have referred are either under consideration for acceptance or under active investigation,’’ Minoli wrote, adding that he had ‘‘provided ‘ready and active assistance’ to the inspector general and his office.’’
In a March memo, Minoli initially had approved approved retroactively of Pruitt’s lease of a room in a Capitol Hill condo co-owned by health-care lobbyist Vicki Hart, saying that the favorable rate — $50-a-night, charged only when he stayed there — did not constitute a gift because that rate for 30 consecutive days would have equated to a monthly rent of $1,500.
Minoli described that as ‘‘a reasonable market value.’’
But days later, he wrote a subsequent memo saying he lacked key facts when he first evaluated the lease. After the news broke, multiple current and former EPA officials confirmed that Pruitt’s daughter stayed at the condo for free last summer while she was working as a White House intern.
Washington Post
