Scott Pruitt reportedly enlisted staffers to help his wife get a job at Chick-fil-A
- A staffer for Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt reportedly set up a call with the president of Chick-fil-A to discuss a franchise for his wife, Marlyn Pruitt.
- Chick-fil-A said Marlyn did not end up submitting an application to become a franchisee.
- Pruitt has been accused of violating federal law by using government staffers for a myriad of personal tasks.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt is in hot water again with new allegations of enlisting government employees to carry out his personal business - this time, on behalf of his wife.
A Chick-fil-A spokeswoman confirmed to The Washington Post on Tuesday that EPA executive scheduler Sydney Hupp tried to organize a call between Pruitt and the president of fast-food chain Chick-fil-A Dan Cathy to discuss a "business opportunity."
It wasn't until speaking with the company's legal department that Pruitt revealed the "business opportunity" had nothing to do with the EPA, but with finding his wife a job. He wanted to look into the possibility of his wife, Marlyn Pruitt, managing her own Chick-fil-A franchise.
These latest revelations come just days after a separate EPA aide testified before members of Congress that she also spent a significant amount of time during work and non-work hours performing personal errands for Pruitt.
These included finding him a new apartment in DC, scheduling his family vacations and trip to the Rose Bowl, and looking into buying a used Trump hotel mattress for his bed.
The spokeswoman told The Washington Post that Marlyn Pruitt started but did not complete the franchisee application. The application to own a Chick-Fil-A franchise is notoriously competitive, with a lengthy application and interview process, and just 100 applicants selected out of around 40,000 every year.
According to other staffers who spoke to The Post anonymously, Pruitt wanted to find his wife a paying job to help cover the cost of running two households - one in Oklahoma and in Washington. As of 2016, the average Chick-fil-A franchise made $4.4 million in sales per year.
Pruitt is currently the subject of 12 separate government investigations for allegedly violating federal ethics laws by using staff for personal business, excessive spending habits, and conflicts of interest.