With Scott Pruitt Out, Will the Investigations into His Scandals Continue? And How Does This Hurt the GOP?

 

 

His tenure marred by ethics and spending scandals, like Elvis, Scott Pruitt has left the building. Actually, more like Nixon (check out some of the fretting over his questionable activities here).

Advertisement

Pruitt is still facing investigations by the EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC), the House Oversight Committee, and the Government Reform Committee, among others.

As for the House Oversight Committee, its probe will continue. At issue is Pruitt’s excessive spending on travel and security, in addition to his apartment rental from a lobbyist, which was below market rate.

Well, that sounds like politics, alright.

https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/1015228675766222853

https://twitter.com/JamesKosur/status/1015236158224195584

Several EPA aides have already been interviewed; their testimony was key to Pruitt’s exit.

Former EPA agent Kevin Chmielewski has been particularly vocal about Pruitt’s excesses. He’s set to be interviewed for eight hours next week by the House Oversight Committee.

As for the OIG, it remains to be seen whether its pending review of Pruitt will go forward. Spokeswoman Jennifer Kaplan said it’s wait-and-see at this point:

“We are assessing and evaluating this latest news.”

With Pruitt gone, the investigations are likely to cool considerably, as noted by a former House Oversight Committee employee to The Hill:

Advertisement

“Previously, when we did stuff like this, when the person who’s the target resigned, we’d usually kind of stop, because you’ve got your goal. Once someone leaves, there are plenty of other targets to go after.”

Furthermore, one of the purposes of probes is to determine administrative action. With Scott gone, that point is moot. As explained by Phyllis Anderson, formerly an EPA ethics official:

“Most of his transgressions involved the federal standards of conduct, a regulation. Unless he involved himself in a particular matter in which he had a direct and predictable financial interest, his activities are merely improper.”

Wow — it sounds like he might have gotten off…”Scott” free. (I’m sorry; I couldn’t resist).

Are you glad Pruitt is gone? Was it too little, too late? And how has all of this hurt Trump and the GOP, politically? Have the Democrats been given an upper hand due to all of the stink caused by it? Will it stifle Trump’s predicted red wave in November (see about that here)? Is it a gift from the Republicans to the Dems (essentially, the converse of this)?

In the end, the Environmental Protection Agency couldn’t temper the emission of the pollutant of scandal. Now, it seems, there’s a lot to clean up.

Advertisement

Please read about the man charged with that task, here.

Sound off in the Comments section below. This is an important turn of events. What are your thoughts?

If you have time, take a look at the relevant RedState links provided in this article.

For something completely different, check out Trump’s response to the NFL’s recent regulations concerning kneeling during “The Star Spangled Banner.”

And here’s a Millennial profile for ya.

Or how about a look into Tomi Lahren’s surprising supporters after her horrible abuse at a restaurant?

Find all my RedState work here.

And follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

 

 

 

 

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos