EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt fell behind on his $50-per-night payments for a bedroom in a condo he rented from the wife of an energy lobbyist, according to a report Thursday.
Vicki Hart, the condo’s landlord, and her husband, energy lobbyist J. Steven Hart, had to “pester” Pruitt for rent payments, Politico reported.
Pruitt, from late February to early August of last year, paid $50 per night for a single bedroom in the Capitol Hill condo. He was charged only for the nights he stayed there. If he had stayed there for 30 consecutive days, the monthly rent would have been $1,500. But canceled checks reviewed by Bloomberg show Pruitt made a payment of $1,700 on Sept. 1, suggesting he paid back rent.
The top ethics official at the EPA, Kevin Minoli, said Wednesday he did not have all the facts when he ruled that the lease agreement reflected fair market value and did not violate federal gift rules.
Minoli said he did not evaluate J. Steven Hart’s business interests, or his firm’s, when making his determination that the condo was fair and not a gift.
In other words, he did not consider whether renting from the wife of an energy lobbyist would violate ethics rules.
Hart is the CEO of Williams and Jensen. His firm has clients with businesses relevant to the EPA’s regulatory efforts, including Cheniere Energy and Exxon Mobil. Cheniere is the largest natural gas exporter in the U.S.
Pruitt’s EPA granted a favorable ruling to a pipeline company represented by J. Steven Hart’s company.
Hart also donated to Pruitt’s campaigns to be attorney general of Oklahoma, according to campaign finance records.
Pruitt on Wednesday denied Hart had business before the EPA.
“Mr. Hart has no clients that had business before this agency,” Pruitt told Fox News.
The White House is investigating the condo lease. President Trump has continued to defend Pruitt, praising him for implementing a deregulatory agenda to gut or delay environmental rules.
