The Washington Post reports that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Scott Pruitt instructed his staff to contact Chick-fil-A in an effort to secure a franchise location for his wife shortly after he became the administrator.
Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his executive scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chairman and president of the fast food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”?
A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with someone from the company’s legal department. Only then did he reveal the “opportunity” on his mind was a job for his wife, Marlyn.
“The subject of that phone call was an expression of interest in his wife becoming a Chick-fil-A franchisee,” company representative Carrie Kurlander told The Washington Post via email.
Pruitt's wife did not ultimately become a franchisee (she didn't finish the application according to the Post) but even asking his staff to arrange this was probably a violation of federal ethics rules.
Now, she did not become the owner of a Chick-fil-A, but the Washington Post also reports that Pruitt got his wife a job organizing a conference where he was invited to speak.
Around the same time, Pruitt contacted [Matthew Swift], CEO of Concordia, a nonprofit organization that brings together leaders from the private and public sector. Pruitt asked Swift to call Marlyn Pruitt, Swift said in an email, which he did. [...]
Swift’s group had invited Pruitt to speak at its 2017 conference in Manhattan, the same event where Marlyn Pruitt was paid $2,000 for three days’ work. At the event, Pruitt was accompanied by at least three aides. EPA travel records show his first-class plane ticket cost $1,201.80, and his overnight stay came to $669.
Current and former EPA officials who spoke to the Post off the record say Pruitt was desperate to find a salary for his wife because of the high cost of living in Washington.
That's funny because, when this all went down, Pruitt was living in a condo owned by lobbyists which he was renting for just $50 per night.
Pruitt is not poor, but he is a cheapskate.
This is what the coal miners wanted, right? No?