As Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s list of scandals continues to grow, one nonprofit at the center of one of the latest controversies is noteworthy for donating millions of dollars to groups associated with Pruitt while he served as Oklahoma’s attorney general.

The Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a 501(c)(4) organization that has historically donated more than $3.3 million to groups affiliated with Pruitt, temporarily employed the EPA chief’s wife, Marlyn, after Pruitt enlisted an aide’s help in finding her a job, the Washington Post reported Wednesday. Pruitt and the aide reportedly solicited Republican donors and conservatives connected to the Trump administration while hunting for jobs, raising questions about Pruitt’s compliance with federal ethics rules.

The scandal is one of the latest in a series of controversies involving the EPA chief, who has also been scrutinized for installing a $43,000 soundproof booth in his office, spending taxpayer money on first-class air travel and living in a condo owned by a lobbyist whose husband lobbied the EPA, among other things.

On Friday, the New York Times reported that Pruitt also asked for staff’s help in getting tickets to the Rose Bowl and obtaining a White House internship for his daughter, among other personal matters.

Republican legislators, including Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), said they were frustrated by Pruitt’s actions following Wednesday’s Post report. Laura Ingraham, a prominent conservative talk show host, criticized Pruitt’s judgment in a tweet Wednesday.

PRUITT BAD JUDGMENT HURTING @POTUS, GOTTA GO: Pruitt had aide, GOP donors help wife find job: report https://t.co/p7dhOK58Sh — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) June 13, 2018

The JCN, the group at the center of one of the EPA chief’s most recent scandals, is a nonprofit that has worked to push the appointment of conservative judges, including Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. President Donald Trump appointed Gorsuch to the Supreme Court in 2017.

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In 2013, the JCN began giving what would become more than $2.4 million in donations over three years to the Republican Attorneys General Association while Pruitt chaired the organization, the Post reported. The JCN also gave $885,000 to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which Pruitt launched as a Republican attorneys general public policy organization. And in 2016, the nonprofit gave $25,000 to one of Pruitt’s PACs.

The Post reported that Pruitt has spoken at recent gatherings for the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization connected to the JCN. Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society’s executive vice president, is a friend of Pruitt’s who helped connect his wife with the JCN, according to the Post.

Leo arranged and initially paid for several events and meals Pruitt attended while on a June 2017 trip to Rome, the New York Times reported. Those events included a private Mass at the Vatican and a meal that reportedly cost several hundred dollars per person. Pruitt later reimbursed Leo for the meals, according to the Post.

Leo also appears to be connected to a mysterious company that was one of the largest donors to Trump’s inaugural committee, OpenSecrets reported in May. BH Group, LLC, which Leo listed as his employer on a campaign finance disclosure, gave $1 million to the committee. Little is known about BH Group, other than that it has a virtual office in Northern Virginia and an apparent connection to a conservative law firm that specializes in campaign finance compliance.

Tax forms revealed that BH Group received $750,000 from the Wellspring Committee, a nonprofit that is one of the JCN’s largest funders. The payment, according to tax forms, was for public relations services, though the Wellspring Committee does not appear to have any public operations.

Pruitt’s personal connections to Leo span as early as 2013, when Pruitt was Oklahoma’s attorney general. Pruitt and Leo worked together to challenge Obama administration domestic policies, the Post reported.



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