Pruitt was accused of a litany of corrupt practices, any one of which would have ended the career of an ordinary politician

After months of scandals, investigations and public protest, Scott Pruitt has finally resigned as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. During his relatively short time in the role, he was accused of a litany of corrupt practices, illegal activities and misuse of public funds, any one of which would have ended the career of an ordinary politician. Pruitt was far from ordinary, though. He had such an apparent disregard for government ethics and political norms, that many questioned whether he would ever leave office. But as CNN reported that Pruitt had kept a secret diary of meetings he didn’t want the public to know about because he thought it would “look bad”, his Teflon finally flaked away.

Scott Pruitt, Trump's embattled EPA chief, resigns after ethics scandals Read more

This is what it took for him to finally step down.

The condo situation

The scandal from which it all began. Pruitt got a steal on a Washington DC condo, paying just $50 a night in rent, way below market rates. The only catch: the condo belonged to the wife of J Steven Hart, a major oil lobbyist who represents Exxon, Cheniere Energy and other companies that are regulated by the EPA. The arrangement was a clear conflict of interest, but Pruitt claimed it was above board because Hart had no clients with business before the EPA, although it later emerged that was not true.

He used public money to live like a Hollywood mogul

Pruitt demanded chartered jets and first-class travel. Photograph: Handout/EPA

Pruitt has spent hundreds of thousands on first-class flights, chartered jets and expensive renovations. He has repeatedly refused to fly coach class on trips, instead racking up over $100,000 on first-class plane tickets and a further $58,000 on private and chartered planes. He also spent $43,000 on the creation and installation of a custom-made soundproof booth in the EPA, so he could have private conversations. Pruitt also spent $1,500 on 12 pens bearing his signature.

The EPA inspector general is currently looking into his spending and has already had to expand the scope of the investigation as further spending allegations have emerged.



He repeatedly broke the law

Pruitt’s disregard for government ethics was impressive, even by the standards of the Trump administration. It’s believed he was using four separate email accounts, some of which may not have been secure or properly archived. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, an NGO, has filed a lawsuit that claims Pruitt deliberately avoided creating written records of meetings so they could not be archived or subject to oversight. The lawsuit also claims Pruitt “uses phones other than his own to deal with important EPA-related matters so the calls do not show up in his call logs”.

His security detail cost taxpayers millions

Pruitt demanded a 20-member full-time security detail, costing over $3m, far more than any previous EPA administrator has spent on security in a similar time period. Much of that spending came from huge overtime bills, a result of Pruitt’s demand for 24-hour protection. This included family trips to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl when Pruitt wasn’t engaged in any public business (Pruitt’s Rose Bowl tickets were donated by a major oil PR, an arrangement that is also under investigation.)

Whenever Pruitt or his aides have been questioned about these arrangements, they have claimed that Pruitt is so hated by the American public that he is in constant danger. An EPA spokesman, Jahan Wilcox, pointed to the “unprecedented” number of death threats Pruitt has received.

He treated experienced EPA staff like his snack servants

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Only Dean & DeLuca would do for Pruitt. Photograph: Eamonn McCabe/The Guardian

Four separate sources told the Daily Beast that Pruitt would send staff out to get protein bars, cookies and yoghurts for him. He would not be satisfied with a run to the vending machines, either – Pruitt demanded they visit upmarket grocery chain Dean & DeLuca instead. The Washington Post also reported that he would send his security detail on bizarre personal errands, including fetching him hand lotion that is only available at Ritz Carlton hotels.

… except for the personal aides he gave huge raises to

When Pruitt wanted to give two of his closest aides, Sarah Greenwalt and Millan Hupp, huge salary bumps, raising their pay to $164,200 and $114,590 respectively, he had to seek White House permission. When the White House refused, he found an obscure piece of legislation, worked into the 1996 Clean Water Act, that allowed a small number of roles in the EPA to be appointed without White House approval so that, for example, experts could be quickly hired in a time of crisis. Pruitt used the legislation to arrange raises for his aides.

He used EPA resources to try to find his wife a job

Samantha Dravis, a senior EPA administrator, told investigators that she was tasked by her boss with finding his wife a job, one that paid at least $200,000. That was after Pruitt had already been exposed for organizing a meeting with the CEO of Chick-fil-A to discuss “a potential business opportunity”. It emerged that he actually just wanted to find out if his wife could become a franchisee.

Trump's promise to 'drain the swamp' proves false even with Scott Pruitt out Read more

Even when he was corruptly using public money, he was still a cheapskate

A number of EPA staff told the Washington Post that Pruitt made them charge his hotel rooms to their personal cards, and then refused to reimburse them. This was particularly an issue for Pruitt’s former executive scheduler, Sydney Hupp, who often had to shell out for Pruitt’s trips. Hupp was also asked by Pruitt to speak with staff at one of Trump’s hotels, believing he could get a deal on a secondhand mattress they were selling.

Pruitt remained miserly even when he was abusing his position to get a good deal. He fell behind on the rental payments on the condo he was getting on the cheap and eventually had to be evicted and the locks were changed.