Hold on a few minutes! Give me a little bit of time so I can put on my āOh, I am soooo shocked!ā face.
I think the trip cost more than $100,000 not $10,000. The headline and story need to be reviewed.
Grifters gonna grift. Then they are going to blame the poor for the economic issues facing the nation and cut much needed programs or regulations they feel are stifling the economic growth.
Then back to griftingā¦
Pruitt is full of crap. Heās not the trade representative or Secretary of Commerce, so making trade deals is far outside his jurisdiction.
What does it take?
What does it take?
A department, a department head and a congress void of any shame whatsoever.
It is my sincere hope that prosecutions ensue when we get back the congress
Pruitt is a crook. Bent on doing evil. Corrupt through and through and through. No redeeming qualities. None at all.
Now, was any of that news to you? I didnāt think so.
Yeah, that was my first reaction too ā what happened to the other $90,000ā¦ Oopsie.
Whenever you hear a Republicanāt railing against Waste, Fraud and Abuse, please know that he is projectingā¦
true, Pruitt would never steal a measly 10.000 $, he is a pro. 100.000 is his limitā¦
Oh look a mini Trumpā¦we are all so proudā¦
Why was Pruitt on a ātrade missionā. Not part of EPA mandate.
Forget Trump, this guy actually has a chance of being impeached when the Dās retake the houseā¦
In āMr Smith Goes to Washingtonā, this kind of revelation was followed by the villain shooting himself. Now, the EPA inspector general is going to give him a clean bill of health and everything will go on.
Pruit is āunawareā of so much he should resign just for being clueless.
The Administrator seems unaware of pretty much everything. Weird.
When are Pruitt and his lawless cronies going to be indicted? The time for a perp walk and trial has long passed.
OK, so we already knew this trip was a crazy-expensive boondoggle that involved only one, 1-hour meeting that could remotely be construed as relevant to an EPA Directorās role and mandate (and even that one was questionable).
We knew the trip cost over $100k, that the hotels were luxurious, the flights first class, including a first class ticket for Pruittās girlfrieā¦ er, aide.
It was already obvious that the boondoggle was almost entirely outside the purview of an EPA Directorā¦ heās already feeling some heat for that, even with all the (burning?) wagons the GOP have circled around him.
This news, if accurate, takes it a very important and critical step further. This is one of those notorious ālast strawsā you sometimes hear about. An energy lobbyist planned, accompanied and profited from this trip? A close friend of Pruittās?
Once Pruitt again declares, āI had no ideaā¦ā??? When I travel with āclose friendsā I know why weāre going, who weāre seeing together, and all the implications of that. That is a ābald faced lieā as brazen as any Iāve heard from this guy.
There is no more cover. Itās now open and blatant corruption. Heās neck deep in it, about to submerge. And every single elected or appointed official that provides cover is COMPLICIT. From the President on down.
Itās time to start listing up and naming names. Loudly and publicly. We need the Press to help with that. Desperately. need our Press to return to the proper role of āthe fourth estateā.
Phew. I needed to get that off my chest. If you got this far, thank you for reading.
/rant
PS: Many many thanks to TPM and the great journalism here. It gives me hope.
A) Utterly corrupt.
B) Unwaveringly dishonest.
C) Willfully ignorant.
D) Completely incompetent.
E) All of the above.
If any of these āmistakesā and āoversightsā happened for any or all of the above reasons, he is not fit to be in government at all, much less heading a critical agency like the EPA.
We need to hold everyone involved; the enablers, the defenders, the profiteers, accountable for this ridiculous situation. The question is, when is it going to happen?
Anyone? Anyone? Buellerā¦? Buellerā¦?
I guess what I am trying to say, with all my indignant chatter, is this:
If this isnāt the final nail, the last straw, the āshow him the exitsā moment in Pruittās EPA career, than nothing is. If he survives this, what else could take him down? But, the more I read, the more I think this is the moment, at long lastā¦
Stick a fork in it. Heās done.