Following the resignation of former Environmental Protection Agency Chief Scott Pruitt, some in the media are questioning whether the motivations behind the investigative journalism that unearthed his scandals were political.

The Washington Examiner’s Susan Ferrechio claimed that was the case, calling the damning scoops “instigated by a desire to take him down” because of his policy decisions.

“He was trying to take apart the Obama era EPA regulations and he accomplished a lot of that, and I think that fueled the investigatory desires of journalists to try to take him down, and outside groups and people within the EPA to try to take him out for that very reason,” she told Fox News’ Howard Kurtz during a panel discussion Sunday. “He made himself a very easy target, clearly. But he would not have been the same level of target if he had a different job within the administration.”

But Kurtz pushed back on that assertion, noting that the so-called “attacks” were rooted in real reporting and hard news.

Mo Elleithee of the Georgetown University Institute of Politics also disagreed with Ferrechio, explaining that the media was simply doing its job rather than operating on an ideologically-based agenda.

“I think this was driven primarily by Scott Pruitt’s actions, by his alienation of many on his own staff who went to the press who did some really good investigative journalism,” he said. “If you supported Donald Trump because you believed he was going to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C., you should be appalled by Scott Pruitt. Scott Pruitt was the swampiest person D.C. has seen in quite some time.”

However, Ferrechio suggested there were likely also shady activities under the Obama administration and that no one was interested enough to find out.

Elleithee appearing outnumbered by his fellow guests, The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway jumped in, siding with Ferrechio and accusing The New York Times and The Washington Post of not “pushing for this drum beat” on the Flint, MI water crisis or the 2015 Colorado mine disaster.

“If you really care about the swamp, cover it no matter who is in charge,” she said.

Watch the clip above, via Fox News.

[Image via screengrab]

Follow Amy Russo on Twitter: @amymrusso

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