Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, speaks to a reporter at The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City in this photo from July. [Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman Archives]

Scott Pruitt, who has come under criticism in recent weeks for his first-class airfare, traveled first class on a few occasions as Oklahoma's attorney general, according to documents obtained by The Oklahoman.

Thousands of pages of travel logs, emails and expense reports obtained Tuesday in an open records request show the Republican attorney general took about 80 trips between 2012 and when he left office last February. On four occasions, those trips involved first-class flights, the records show.

Pruitt's infrequent use of first class as attorney general differs from his policy of the past year, when he routinely traveled in the finer seats. The Environmental Protection Agency administrator has said first class is necessary due to security concerns and the nation's "toxic" political environment.

In September, The Oklahoman reported that Pruitt spent $14,434 in taxpayer funds to fly from Tulsa to the Panhandle and Oklahoma City one day in July. Pruitt had received permission from an EPA attorney to use a Department of Interior plane due to his tight schedule.