The inspector general is investigating Pruitt's $50-a-night condo lease, taxpayer-funded travel, his use of a special hiring authority, and his spending on a soundproof phone booth for his office. | Pete Marovich/Getty Images Pruitt’s troubles deepen But President Donald Trump expressed confidence in the embattled EPA chief, who is facing another possible inspector general probe.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general is considering an investigation of Administrator Scott Pruitt’s $50-a-night condo lease — a development accompanied by the departure of one of his top aides, the erosion of one of his key defenses, a troubled Fox News interview and growing concern in the White House about his cascade of ethical problems.

The review, confirmed by an EPA inspector general spokesman on Thursday, opens the prospect of yet another formal IG inquiry into Pruitt, whose aggressive championing of President Donald Trump's deregulatory agenda has been accompanied by questions about his travel spending, secretive habits and closeness with industries that EPA regulates. The IG is already conducting at least three investigations into Pruitt's taxpayer-funded travel, his use of a special hiring authority, and his spending on a soundproof phone booth for his office.


But in a rare piece of good news, Trump expressed support for Pruitt while boarding Air Force One on Thursday afternoon for a trip to West Virginia.

Asked by reporters whether he still has confidence in Pruitt, Trump replied: "I do, I do."

Later in the day, deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley offered no assurances as to how long that confidence would last.

“We all serve at the pleasure of the president. You guys know that. And when he’s not pleased, you’ll know it," Gidley told reporters. He added that Trump "reads the papers, he watches TV, he knows the reports that are floating around out there. And they do raise questions and we expect that Administrator Pruitt answer those questions."

Separately, one of Pruitt's top political appointees, Samantha Dravis, submitted her resignation early last week, a source familiar with her plans told POLITICO. Dravis was senior counsel and associate administrator of EPA's Office of Policy, a role that allowed her to accompany Pruitt on international travel, including a trip to Morocco in December where Pruitt touted American natural gas and time in Italy for G-7 environment meetings in June.

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People close to the situation said Dravis had been planning to leave for some time, and that her decision is not because of a series of recent negative headlines for Pruitt. Those include the news that he had rented a Capitol Hill condo for $50 a night from the wife of an energy lobbyist for several months last year, as well as raises that EPA had secured for two of Pruitt's political aides using a provision of a drinking water law.

Dravis, who previously was policy director and general counsel of the Republican Attorneys General Association, will pursue opportunities in the private sector. Her growing responsibilities at EPA had included leading EPA’s regulatory reform efforts and the offices for environmental reviews and environmental justice.

The agency confirmed her plans to depart.

“After serving for over a year as EPA’s head of policy, Samantha Dravis has decided to pursue other opportunities," EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in an email Thursday. "She has been integral in the Agency’s successful implementation of the President’s environmental agenda and the Agency wishes her success in her future endeavors.”

Pruitt has tried to defend himself in a series of interviews with conservative media outlets this week, including an often contentious sitdown Wednesday with Fox News' Ed Henry, who expressed skepticism that the administrator wouldn't know details about the employees' raises, which the White House had reportedly tried to block.

Meanwhile, an EPA ethics official late Wednesday undermined one of Pruitt's defenses about the condo rental by declining to vouch for the legitimacy of every aspect of the deal.

The ethics official, Kevin Minoli, had said in a previous memo that the lease as written did not violate federal gift rules — a line of defense that Pruitt and his supporters have pointed to since then. But in a second memo late Wednesday, Minoli said he did not have access to all information about other aspects of the lease and couldn't say whether they complied with all federal rules.

"Some have raised questions whether the actual use of the space was consistent with the terms of the lease," he wrote. "Evaluating those questions would have required factual information that was not before us and the Review does not address those questions."

The second memo followed news reports that Pruitt's daughter and other family members may have stayed with Pruitt and had the run of the whole condo, not just the room he was renting.

Minoli also said he had not considered Pruitt’s housing situation in the context of a federal impartiality rule, which the Office of Government Ethics says “requires an employee to consider appearance concerns before participating in a particular matter if someone close to the employee is involved as a party to that matter.”

The lease originally had energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart's name printed on it as the landlord, but someone crossed it out and wrote in the name of his wife, health care lobbyist Vicki Hart. Public records show Vicki Hart's name on both the mortgage and deed.

Minoli still maintained that the $50-per-night rate was within the bounds of rules regarding gifts based on the rental rates of other nearby units.

The White House, meanwhile, has recently only offered tepid support for Pruitt and expressed concern about the ethics scandals.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders — asked on Wednesday why Trump is "OK" with the leader of the EPA renting a condo from a lobbyist for $50 a night — responded that "the president’s not."

"We’re reviewing the situation," she said, adding: “The president thinks that he’s done a good job, particularly on the deregulation front. But again, we take this seriously and we’re looking into it and we'll let you know when we finish."

Some of Pruitt's conservative supporters were much more vocal in urging Trump to keep him on the job.

"When it comes to economy-strangling regulations, Pruitt is, as President Donald Trump likes to say, 'a total killer,'" wrote Andy Surabian, a former White House aide. "He has no peer in Trump's Cabinet in terms of his ability to cut back red tape. From day one, he began dismantling Barack Obama's legacy with startling effectiveness and cunning. And for this, radical environmentalists and other left-wingers despise him."

Daniel Lippman, Cristiano Lima and Kelsey Tamborrino contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the nature of the EPA inspector general's review of Scott Pruitt's condo lease. The IG's office says it is reviewing requests for an investigation.