Scott Pruitt had staffers book hotels on their personal credit cards and then never paid them back
- Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt reportedly asked his assistants to pay for his hotel reservations on their personal credit cards, and then refused to pay them back.
- In one case, Pruitt failed to reimburse his 26-year-old former scheduling director for a $600 hotel reservation she made for Pruitt's family vacation.
- Pruitt is currently under a dozen investigations into possible ethical violations.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt repeatedly asked his assistants to pay for his hotel reservations on their personal credit cards, and then refused to pay them back, a current and former EPA official told The Washington Post.
In one case, Sydney Hupp, Pruitt's 25-year-old former executive scheduler, personally paid for a $600 hotel reservation for Pruitt's family vacation during the presidential transition, according to former deputy chief of staff Kevin Chmielewski.
Pruitt reportedly failed to reimburse Hupp, so Pruitt's chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, left Hupp $600 in cash in her drawer.
"Pruitt is the gift that keeps on giving in terms of examples of how senior government officials, particularly in this administration, abuse their power and their position, and really treat the government's resources - of which the most valuable are personnel - as personal servants," Don Fox, former acting director of the Office of Government Ethics, told The Post.
Pruitt is currently under a dozen separate investigations into possible ethical violations, including those related to his regular first-class flights and copious spending on his personal security.