EPA spending almost $25 000 to install a secure phone booth for Scott Pruitt
Scott Pruitt
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt  will have a soundproof communication booth. (Susan Walsh/AP)
The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25 000 to construct a secure  soundproof communications booth in the office of  Administrator Scott Pruitt   according to government contracting records.
 Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt  addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 25 in Oxon Hill  Md. (The Washington Post)
In recent months   Pruitt  and  his  top deputies have taken other steps aimed at heightening security. Some EPA employees have been asked to surrender their cellphones and other digital devices before meetings in the administrator’s office  in much the same way visitors do when visiting the president in the Oval Office.
[ Scott Pruitt  says  it ’s not the time to talk climate change. For  him    it  never is.]
 Pruitt  also has shied away from using email at EPA  often preferring to deliver instructions verbally and hold face-to-face meetings. The shift stems in part from public disclosure by the New York Times in 2014 — following an open-records request of emails — of how  Pruitt  and other attorneys general had worked closely with the oil and gas industry to oppose Obama administration environmental safeguards.
Thousands more pages of emails from  his  time as Oklahoma’s attorney general  released earlier this year after the Center for Media and Democracy sued for them to be made public  detailed an often-chummy relationship between  Pruitt ’s office and Devon Energy  a major oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City.
In addition   Pruitt  has largely avoided the agency’s decades-long practice of publicly posting the administrator’s appointment calendars. Only last week were details on months worth of meetings released after media outlets filed repeated Freedom of Information Act requests for that information; they showed  he  has met regularly with corporate executives from the automobile  mining and fossil fuel industries — in several instances shortly before making decisions favorable to those interest groups.
Pruitt  who has become a polarizing and high-profile figure as  he  seeks to roll back Obama-era policies and shrink the EPA’s footprint  has essentially tripled the personal security detail that served past administrators. The detail now includes about 18 people to cover round-the-clock needs and  his  frequent travel schedule. Such 24/7 coverage has prompted officials to rotate in special agents from around the country who otherwise would be investigating environmental crimes.
[TGT]will have a soundproof communication booth. (Susan Walsh/AP)
The Environmental Protection Agency is spending nearly $25 000 to construct a secure  soundproof communications booth in the office of [TGT]according to government contracting records.
 [TGT]addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 25 in Oxon Hill  Md. (The Washington Post)
In recent months   [TGT]and  [TGT]  top deputies have taken other steps aimed at heightening security. Some EPA employees have been asked to surrender their cellphones and other digital devices before meetings in the administrator’s office  in much the same way visitors do when visiting the president in the Oval Office.
[ [TGT]says  it ’s not the time to talk climate change. For  [TGT]    it  never is.]
 [TGT]also has shied away from using email at EPA  often preferring to deliver instructions verbally and hold face-to-face meetings. The shift stems in part from public disclosure by the New York Times in 2014 — following an open-records request of emails — of how  Pruitt  and other attorneys general had worked closely with the oil and gas industry to oppose Obama administration environmental safeguards.
Thousands more pages of emails from  his  time as Oklahoma’s attorney general  released earlier this year after the Center for Media and Democracy sued for them to be made public  detailed an often-chummy relationship between  Pruitt ’s office and Devon Energy  a major oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City.
In addition   Pruitt  has largely avoided the agency’s decades-long practice of publicly posting the administrator’s appointment calendars. Only last week were details on months worth of meetings released after media outlets filed repeated Freedom of Information Act requests for that information; they showed  he  has met regularly with corporate executives from the automobile  mining and fossil fuel industries — in several instances shortly before making decisions favorable to those interest groups.
Pruitt  who has become a polarizing and high-profile figure as  he  seeks to roll back Obama-era policies and shrink the EPA’s footprint  has essentially tripled the personal security detail that served past administrators. The detail now includes about 18 people to cover round-the-clock needs and  his  frequent travel schedule. Such 24/7 coverage has prompted officials to rotate in special agents from around the country who otherwise would be investigating environmental crimes.