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Scott Pruitt’s Ritz-Carlton moisturizing lotion scandal, explained

JacksinPA

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https://www.vox.com/2018/6/7/17439044/scott-pruitt-ritz-carlton-moisturizing-lotion

The never-ending series of scandals swirling around Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has developed an amusing new dimension with the revelation from the Washington Post’s team of Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, and Brady Dennis that Pruitt has been using his security detail to, among other things, go shopping for a special moisturizer available at Ritz-Carlton hotels.

Misusing government funds in a minor way seems in many respects less serious than the original scandal, which involved essentially accepting free rent from a lobbyist. And while President Trump and most congressional Republicans appreciate Pruitt for his policy work, arguably it’s the policy work — which has included everything from keeping a pesticide legal even though it poisons children’s brains to undermining efforts to avert potentially catastrophic climate change — that is the real scandal.
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Pruitt is involved in at least 15 major ethics probes - so far. But The Donald loves him.
 

I'm damn sure glad Trump drained the swamp. :roll:
 

The reason they love him is he has turned the Environmental Protection Agency into

The Environmental Destruction Agency.
I expect DDT to be back on the market any day. What do we need all these pesky eagles for anyway?
 
What is it with Pruitt? Why does that man think the EPA and its staff should function as his personal concierge service?

Hell, I don't understand why the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain should even come up in connection with anything the EPA does. I mean, really. There's no place where there's a Ritz that there isn't also another facility that's far less expensive and every bit as functionally effective for whatever EPA personnel need to do.
 

Pruitt has also used his position as EPA secretary to obtain his wife a franchise with Chic-fil-a.

We don't have a government now - what we have is a medieval monarchy.
 
  • I don't mind that Pruitt wants a personal assistant. It's not uncommon for wealthy folks to employ one. That said, a government executive's assistant's job is not that of a personal assistant, but that of "business" assistant. And there's just no government-business purpose, outside the FDA perhaps, calling for his government security detail members shopping for moisturisers.
  • Why the hell is the man shopping at the Ritz for toiletries? The chain does not manufacture them; it buys them from firms that do. I don't know what firm's products the Ritz uses these days, but I'd guess they use one of the "posh" brands...Malin+Goetz, Le Labao, June Jacobs, Bliss, Fresh, Gilchrist and Soames, etc. Why the hell can't Pruitt pick up the phone, or ask his wife or kids to do so, and call the Ritz and ask them what brand of moisturizers they use.
  • Is Pruitt not able to shop on the Internet or over the telephone like everyone else? Can his housekeeper, wife or kids not run such errands on his behalf? Does he not have a moment on the weekend or after work to drop into either of the two Ritz-Carltons in D.C. (or one in whatever other city he's in) to get the stuff? I mean, really, just how non-self-sufficient is Pruitt?

Re: Pruitt and the condo he rented for "$50/day when used,":
Just to put things in perspective, Robert M. Gates is of comparable wealth to Pruitt. When Gates was Sec. Defense, he paid out-of-pocket to live in a government-owned building.

It doesn't bother me that Pruitt is thrifty, so to speak. It bothers me that his frugality comes with the appearance of impropriety insofar as it appears he's using his influence and position as EPA Administrator to trade for personal rather favors rather than for favors that return real value to the American people. Truly, I cannot help but wonder what was the nature of his doing the same thing prior to heading the EPA. I'm fairly certain exploiting his government position for grift didn't just strike him as okay-to-do upon his becoming the Administrator.​
 
lurchadams said:
Pruitt has also used his position as EPA secretary to obtain his wife a franchise with Chic-fil-a.

We don't have a government now - what we have is a medieval monarchy.
Click to expand...

He tried to get her the franchise by abusing his office. I don't think he succeeded.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/lov...ponds-report-franchise-wife/story?id=55670705

'We love Chick-fil-A': Pruitt responds to report he tried to get franchise for wife

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said that he and his wife "love Chick-fil-A" a day after a report he asked an EPA aide to set up a meeting with the company to discuss a possible franchise for his wife.

Federal law says that government officials can't use their public office for personal gain or to benefit family members. If Pruitt told his aides to do personal favors for him or his family on government time it could be a violation of federal law.

Interestingly, that chain has a major anti-gay bias. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick-fil-A_same-sex_marriage_controversy
 
GDViking said:
We are learning that was not a metaphor, he is actually draining swamps and destroying wetlands...
Click to expand...

That didn't occur to me when I wrote my response. However, you are correct. Trump and especially Pruitt are systematically destroying swamps, wetlands and our natural environment.
 
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