Scandal-hit US agency chief could face ax

WASHINGTON - Facing scandals over the spending and behavior of his environment agency chief, Scott Pruitt, US President Donald Trump appears close to firing the man he appointed to dismantle Barack Obama's green legacy.

The list of accusations leveled against the 50-year-old head of the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has grown almost too long to itemize in a single article.

Pruitt has become the focus of multiple investigations in recent months, including by his own agency's inspector general, two other independent federal agencies and by Congress itself.

All the charges share a common thread - that Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general reported to have close ties to fossil fuels industries, appears to have used the position he has held since February 2017 to enrich his own family's lifestyle in violation of federal law and has punished subordinates who raised objections to his behavior, or who failed to show sufficient loyalty to him.

It all began with his penchant for first-class and private air travel while on official business, a bill footed by the taxpayers, in contravention of usual government practice.

Then came the reports of the large number of bodyguards he kept around him 24 hours a day, doubling the cost of his predecessors' security detail.

He also ordered the installation of a secure telephone cabin in his Washington office at the cost of $43,000.

Then there was the question of his personal expenses. He rented an apartment linked to oil industry lobbyists in a pricey neighborhood of the capital for a mere $50 dollars a night, a sum he only paid on nights he actually slept there.

He also tasked members of his staff with personal assignments, including finding him another apartment, getting tickets to sporting events and trying to help his wife find a job.

This week, Kevin Chmielewski, a former EPA official who was sacked in February, told MSNBC news that he saw Pruitt pay back a young member of staff $600 she had been forced to put on her own credit card for hotel rooms for Pruitt's family during the celebrations for Trump's swearing-in ceremony.

Chmielewski, a Republican and Trump loyalist, also told CNN news that Pruitt alleged-ly used secret calendars to hide contacts with industry insiders from his own staff.

Until now, the president has stood by his zealous lieutenant, praising his work to roll back Obama-era environmental regulations that Trump says hinder economic growth.

But Trump may be changing his mind, with November's midterms looming and Democrats knocking his pledges to "drain the swamp" of Washington graft.

Last month, Trump admitted: "I'm not happy about certain things, I'll be honest."

On Tuesday, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley addressed the mounting ethical questions facing Pruitt and said "these things matter to the president as well, and he's looking into those".

Agence France-presse

(China Daily 07/06/2018 page12)