williams & jensen

<p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman">see hart, pruitt, smithfield</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">cult corrup winow --> smash and grab?</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-epa-industry-2575035190.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-epa-industry-2575035190.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see below</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: large; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>New Reports Highlight Industry Influence on EPA Head Pruitt</b></span></div><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2575035190" data-authors="Olivia Rosane" data-headline="New Reports Highlight Industry Influence on EPA Head Pruitt" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">New evidence emerged Friday and Saturday revealing how U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) Administrator <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt</a>'s close relationships with industry leaders and lobbyists might impact his environmental decisions.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On Friday,<b> the lobbying firm Williams & Jensen </b>disclosed evidence that its<b> former chairman J. Steven Hart,</b> whose wife <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-corruption-scandal-condo-2555549162.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">rented a Washington, DC condo to Pruitt</a>, did in fact lobby the EPA on behalf of three clients during Pruitt's tenure despite his denials, <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/390344-firm-discloses-more-epa-lobbying-by-advocate-with-ties-to-pruitt" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Hill reported</a></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.  </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;">Then, on Saturday, </span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/us/scott-pruitt-coal-joseph-craft.html" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;">The New York Times</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;">broke the news that Pruitt had attended a University of Kentucky basketball game in December in special, front-and-center seats belonging to</span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;"> </span><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="self" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;">coal</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;"> </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-align: center;"><b>billionaire Joseph W. Craft III</b>, whose close relationship with Pruitt had not been previously examined.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hart, who stepped down from Williams & Jensen in April, told E&E news in March that he did not lobby the EPA in 2017 or 2018. But lobbying disclosures released hours after his departure revealed he did contact the EPA to lobby for Smithfield Foods during that period</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Friday's disclosures to the Senate, the firm revealed further that Hart did more for Smithfield Foods that previously believed and also contacted the EPA on behalf of Coca-Cola and the Financial Oversight and Management Control Board of Puerto Rico.</font></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The new information turned up after Williams & Jensen hired </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Jan Baran </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">at</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Wiley Rein</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> to review Hart's schedule and communications, as well as the firm's disclosure filings, from 2017 and the first three months of 2018, to make sure the firm was accurately disclosing Hart's activity.</span></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Hart and others lobbied the EPA for Coca-Cola </b>on "environmental issues impacting the beverage industry; clean water supply and water conservation," according to the updated disclosures.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The EPA told The Hill that the inclusion of Coca-Cola was an error.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This meeting involving Coca-Cola and their clean water steward did not occur," EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement. "The request was submitted and it went unfilled."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The disclosures said that lobbying by Hart and others for Coca-Cola to the EPA and other government agencies and Capital Hill also included "general market access issues in foreign countries; Commerce 232 investigations, including re: aluminum" and "[e]nvironmental issues impacting the beverage industry, including hydroflourocarbon replacement; commodity pricing legislation."</font></p><p><span style="text-align: center; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2017, Hart also lobbied the EPA for more potable water for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, on behalf of the Financial Oversight and Management Control Board of Puerto Rico.</font></span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Even if he wasn't an official lobbyist, coal executive Craft's close ties to Pruitt suggest <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" style="text-decoration-line: none;">fossil-fuel</a> industry influence on key deregulatory moves such as October's repeal of the Obama-era <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/clean-power-plan-repeal-2494810040.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Power Plan</a>, </b>which Pruitt announced in Craft's hometown of Hazard, Kentucky with Craft in the audience. Craft also served on the board of an industry group that urged the EPA to postpone enforcement of a rule preventing coal plants from dumping toxic metals into rivers, a request Pruitt honored in September, The New York Times reported.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The New York Times further uncovered the fact that Pruitt had met with Craft at least seven times during the first 14 months of his tenure at the EPA, more than he met with any environmental advocate</b>. The two are close enough to be on texting basis, and their relationship has deep roots: Craft was a major donor to Pruitt's state government campaigns in Oklahoma.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Heath Lovell, vice president for public affairs at <b>Craft's company Alliance Resource Partners,</b> told The New York Times that Pruitt paid "market value" for the basketball tickets.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The game was not included on Pruitt's official calendar, but was videotaped and mentioned in university communications requested by The New York Times through public records requests.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> According to those communications, Kentucky state police provided additional security for Pruitt during the trip, backing up his own detail.</span></font></p></div></div><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></font></p><div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"> no many lnx</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/climate/epa-kelly-perrotta-resignations.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/climate/epa-kelly-perrotta-resignations.html</a>
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Two top aides to Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency chief who is facing an array of investigations related to his spending and management practices, have resigned amid widening scrutiny of their roles at the agency.</font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>The departures include Pasquale Perrotta, who served as Mr. Pruitt’s chief of security and helped facilitate the costly and unusual team of bodyguards and other protective measures provided to Mr. Pruitt — measures that critics have called unnecessary.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Also departing was Albert Kelly, a longtime friend of Mr. Pruitt’s and a former banker who received a lifetime ban from the finance industry last year following a banking violation. Mr. Kelly ran the agency’s Superfund program, which oversees the cleanup of hazardous waste sites.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The resignations of Mr. Kelly and Mr. Perrotta follow a string of reports of Mr. Pruitt’s lavish spending and alleged conflicts of interest, including his office’s illegal purchase of a secure telephone booth, his condominium-rental agreement with the wife of an energy lobbyist, and accusations that he demoted or sidelined E.P.A. employees who questioned his actions.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Mr. Pruitt, who is the subject of 11 federal investigations, is now seeking to establish a legal defense fund, according to four people familiar with his plans, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not directly involved with setting up the fund. These people said they expect Mr. Pruitt to operate the fund privately, with no E.P.A. affiliation.</div><div>
</div><div>When asked about the fund, Jahan Wilcox, an E.P.A. spokesman, said, “E.P.A. does not set up a legal expense fund for any employee.”</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The people familiar with Mr. Pruitt’s legal defense fund said they did not know what legal or financial form the fund would take.</div><div>
</div><div>The practice among administration officials of setting up some form of outside fund or account to help defray the cost of legal expenses dates back to at least the Nixon administration, said Robert Rizzi, a tax attorney who specializes in government ethics with the firm Steptoe. Mr. Rizzi noted that Mr. Pruitt would hardly be the first member of the Trump administration to set up such a fund. “This has come up more often in this administration than in previous administrations,” he said.  </div><div>Mr. Rizzi also said the creation of such a fund could cause further headaches for Mr. Pruitt should energy companies or other industries regulated by the E.P.A. contribute to it. “These funds raise a lot of uncertainties in the tax area and the ethical area,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Also on Tuesday, new details emerged about the lobbying of the E.P.A. by J. Steven Hart, the lobbyist whose wife had last year rented a $50-a-night condo to Mr. Pruitt. Congressional investigators on Tuesday provided The New York Times with an email in which Mr. Hart asked Mr. Pruitt for help in getting three people appointed to the E.P.A.’s prestigious Science Advisory Board. They had been recommended by Smithfield Foods, a company that was a client of Mr. Hart’s lobbying firm?, and its Smithfield Foundation, a charitable subsidiary.</span></div><div>
</div><div>The email was sent in August 2017, a few weeks after Mr. Pruitt had moved out of the apartment, but at a time when he still owed money to Mr. Hart’s wife.</div><div>
</div><div>Representative Frank Pallone Jr. of New Jersey, ?the leading Democrat on the House committee that helps oversee E.P.A. operations, ?called the email “further proof that Administrator Pruitt has consistently misled Congress and the public about the extent to which the special interests providing him with gifts have sought specific favors from E.P.A. in return.”</div><div>
</div><div>The E.P.A. press office did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Williams & Jensen, the lobbying firm that Mr. Hart left last month, did not respond to a request for comment.</div></div></div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/7/1755199/-Crony-Capitalism-Corporate-raider-Carl-Ichan-sits-at-the-center-of-the-Scott-Pruitt-scandals" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/7/1755199/-Crony-Capitalism-Corporate-raider-Carl-Ichan-sits-at-the-center-of-the-Scott-Pruitt-scandals</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Crony Capitalism: Corporate raider Carl Ichan sits at the center of the Scott Pruitt EPA scandals.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Frank Vyan Walton  </font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Community</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Saturday April 07, 2018 · 10:05 AM PDT</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As documented this week by Rachel Maddow it appears that Scott Pruitt was actually vetted and chosen for his position as EPA chief by billionaire corporate raider Carl <b>Ichan </b>and that besides systematically destroying environmental protections he’s also been going out of his way to shovel cargo ship bushel’s of money directly into Ichan’s pockets.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Before hiring Pruitt he met with Trump at Trump Tower where he was told to “go two blocks down the street to talk to Carl” which he did and once he received Ichan’s endorsement he was hired.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Once you understand Ichan’s links to Pruitt many of his subsequent actions begin to make much more sense.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ichan was brought into the Trump administration as a regulation czar in 2017, but left rather quickly and unceremoniously when it discovered he was using his position to make $100 Millions for himself on the stock market.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Carl Icahn resigned from his post as special advisor on regulation to Donald Trump ahead of a critical magazine article detailing his potential conflicts of interest and questioning whether he had acted illegally.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">CNBC originally published an investigation on the matter in December.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The new New Yorker piece centered on how the billionaire investor, who announced his departure from the role on Friday, had been pushing to change part of a rule that has a negative impact on one of his energy investments.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Icahn said that he resigned from the role to avoid "partisan bickering" about his position. The billionaire investor said he did not want that scrutiny to affect the Trump administration's work on regulatory reform.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">...</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Still, former White House ethics lawyers had told CNBC that Icahn's appointment to the informal role, given his stake in refiner CVR Energy, represented a conflict of interest and could have put him at risk of violating conflicts laws.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The rule in question requires refiners to blend ethanol, a renewable fuel, into gasoline. In an interview on CNBC's "Fast Money: Halftime Report,"Icahn said the Environmental Protection Agency should immediately revoke part of the rule that requires refiners that cannot blend ethanol into gasoline to buy credits instead.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">If Icahn's advice in his capacity as special advisor on regulation contributed to such a repeal, he would have inherently aided in removing a disadvantage for CVR Energy. Repeal of the regulation could have potentially boosted CVR's stock price and enrich Icahn.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The markets were anticipating Icahn would help shape rules that would benefit CVR: Shares of the company rose 11.5 percent after Trump named him to the role. Icahn Associates held 82 percent of CVR Energy's outstanding shares at the time, according to FactSet data.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>There’s also the story of the odd trip the Pruitt took to Morocco along with 7 members of his staff and also his full security details </b>— who apparently missed a connecting flight in Paris and had to stay  there for the weekend — and eventually met to pitch the idea of having Morocco import liquified natural gas from the U.S., a task which has absolutely nothing to do with his job as head of the E.P.A.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">On the five-day trip that the EPA has said cost taxpayers around $40,000, Pruitt only worked one full day and had one-hour meetings the days before and after.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The main purpose of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pruitt’s trip was to tout American liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, a purpose that Democrats say is not within the EPA’s mission.</span></b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And in the time leading up to the Morocco trip, Pruitt met with numerous representatives of associations and companies with interests in LNG exports, including a Kinder Morgan meeting two days before the trip. That company is developing two LNG export terminals.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“If these were the individuals who advised you about your trip before you departed, it would suggest the purpose had little to do with EPA's mission and more to do with interests from your time in Oklahoma,” wrote Whitehouse, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But then again it does have something to do with the fact the only company with the capability to export natural gas happening to be Chenier Energy, which is a company owned by Carl Ichan.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The chief executive of Cheniere Energy is standing down just days after Carl Icahn, the billionaire activist investor, increased his stake in the company, which will soon be the first to begin large-scale exports of liquefied natural gas from the US.Charif Souki has been replaced on an interim basis by Neal Shear, a Cheniere board member who was once co-head of Morgan Stanley’s commodities business, the Houston-based company said on Sunday.  </font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>And also happens to employ the lobbying firm of Steve Hart, the landlord for Pruitt’s sweetheart condo deal as I’ve previously noted.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">According to Bloomberg Politics, EPA Director Scott Pruitt has been paying $50 a night for one bedroom in the townhouse owned through a limited liability corporation by Vicki Hart, a lobbyist who specializes in health care.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Her husband J. Steven Hart is also a lobbyist with clients such as Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. and Cheniere Energy Inc, he’s also outside counsel for the NRA and had released the statement that they had only taken money from one Russian which, of course, was Alexander Torshin who is being investigated by the FBI to see if his NRA contributions were illegal.</span></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Torshin happens to be one of the 17 Russian Government officials who the Trump administration finally sanctioned this week.  And not only does he have links to the NRA, he also has links to John Bolton who in turn has links to Cambridge Analytica through his SuperPAC.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">And there’s more — lots more.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Daily Beast reports that Pruitt’s condo SugarDaddy Steven Hart and his lobbying firm have several clients with business before the EPA, including MillerCoors, Rocky Mountain Bottling Co, Cheniere Energy, Black and Decker, Stanley Oil and Gas, Smithfield foods, Coca Cola, American Airlines, Chrysler, General Motors and Ford.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">AP reports that Pruitt’s condo lease agreement had originally had Steven Hart’s name as the landlord on it, but his name was scratched out by hand and his wife Vicky’s name was written in — while Steven is an energy lobbyist who might have conflicts being the landlord for the EPA administrator Vicky is a healthcare lobbyist who wouldn’t have that problem.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Atlantic reports that Scott Pruitt overrode WH objections to give two of his long time cronies raises of up to $60k for Sarah Greenwalt and Millian Hupp.  And if that isn’t bad enough EPA is also weakening Obama era Fuel standards and looking at blocking California from setting it’s own higher standard.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Thinkprogress reports that Scott Pruitt signed off on a pipeline deal for a client of his condo landlords lobbying firm.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Reports surface that Pruitt’s landlord had considered him an endless house guest like Kato Kaelin because the lease was only for a few weeks and Pruitt had stayed for months, Eventually they had to change the locks to get him out. Former Ethics Czar Walter Schaub points out that $50-a-night for one room was found to be a fair Air BNB style rate — but Pruitt’s daughter was also staying in the second bedroom for free which would amount to a potentially illegal gift.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">So in addition to lobbying Morocco to buy LNG which would be profitable for Ichan and his landlord Steven Hart — who eventually had to lock him out of his room to get him to leave it — Pruitt also setup several other sweatheart deals for Chenier, Hart and Ichan.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">And then there’s the curious story of <b>Samantha Dravis.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Politico and others report Pruitt aide Samantha Dravis, the senior counsel and associate administrator of the EPA’s office of policy, submitted her resignation last week.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">It turns out that Dravis hadn’t been coming into work at the EPA for 3 solid months, but was till getting paid.  </font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Samantha Dravis — the top policy adviser to Scott Pruitt, the chief of the Environmental Protection Agency — is said to be resigning. Senator Thomas Carper, Democrat of Delaware, raised questions about her work history in this letter to the E.P.A.’s inspector general.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">I write to request that the Of?ce of Inspector General conduct an immediate review of EnvironmentalProtection Agency?s (EPA) efforts to prevent ??aud related to employee time and attendance, including an investigation of potential fraud committed by Administrator Pruitt?s political staff. Speci?cally, I have been informed that Ms. Samantha Dravis, Associate Administrator of Office of Policy, did not attend work or perform her duties for much if not all of the months of November 2017-January 2018. I am additionally informed that Ms. Dravis was likely compensated as a full-time employee throughout that time.This is not the ?rst time that reports of time and attendance problems have plagued the agency.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In 2013,EPA learned that John Beale, a senior career of?cial, had defrauded the agency for years by claiming that his months-long absences from work were attributable to his undercover work for the CIA. He was sentenced to 32 months in prison] and the case was the subject of considerable Congressional2interest} This matter also led to several reports, written by and by yous, recommending improvements in oversight of- employee time and attendance practices.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Yet somehow, even though she wasn’t showing up for work but was still getting paid she managed to go along on the Morocco trip.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Pruitt’s scandals of personal ethics where he’s shoveling federal money into his own pocket and taking advantages of perks, from trying to buy a bullet proof desk to the cone of silence in this office and over $3 Million for his person security detail.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Environmental Protection Agency reportedly incurred $3 million in taxpayer-funded expenses for administrator Scott Pruitt's security detail and travel arrangements, according to news reports published on Friday.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Pruitt's security detail reportedly comprised of 20 full-time members — three times the size of former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy's part-time security staff.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Eric Weese, the former head of Pruitt's protective detail, voiced concern over Pruitt's expenses, which included taxpayer-funded first-class flights for short trips from Washington, DC, to New York City, according to The New York Times. Weese was eventually replaced with Pasquale Perrotta, a former Secret Service agent who operates a private security company</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">...</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pruitt's security detail accrued enough overtime to reach their annual maximum salary of around $160,000.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">During his first three months as EPA chief, Pruitt's security detail cost over $832,000.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Weekly schedules revealed that over 36 people were assigned to Pruitt's security detail in a span of six weeks.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Pruitt was provided security during family trips and sporting events. Former EPA administrator McCarthy had roughly a half-dozen people on her security staff, and was not provided protection during off-hours.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>During a trip to Italy, Perrotta hired private Italian security guards that arranged a motorcade for Pruitt. Members of the Italian security detail were reportedly personal friends of Perrotta and accompanied Pruitt to a posh restaurant for hours.</b></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The agency spent around $9,000 in 2017 for increased security measures, such as biometric locks for his doors, and for hiring a private contractor to sweep Pruitt's office for hidden listening devices.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">$43,000 was spent to install a soundproof phone booth at Pruitt's office.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A request for a $100,000-per-month private jet membership, a bulletproof vehicle, and $70,000 for furniture that included a bulletproof desk for an armed security guard was made. The requests were denied.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">These efforts are not different from his official actions as head of the EPA where he is shoveling money into the pockets of his corporate buddies and pals like Ichan and others.  </font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">This is all about fleecing the American people and the Treasury and literally lighting that money on fire like the Health Ledger’s Joker in the The Dark Knight.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">And that’s exactly why Trump won’t fire Pruitt. </font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">He's doing exactly what Trump wants, burning it all down. They don’t care what happens to the environment in the process, they don’t care what happens to people as they try to drink water that’s been contaminated by coal ash and heavy metals they don’t care about us “little people”.  They living high on the hog and they’re going to take every advantage, every sliver of fun and joy, and leave the rest of us all with the dregs.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">WASHINGTON ? The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans Thursday to scrap Obama-era rules tightening restrictions on disposal of coal ash, the toxic byproduct from coal-fired power plants that has caused major water contamination problems across the country.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt billed the new proposal as a bid to give states more independence over coal ash disposal, though he moved to reconsider the 2015 regulation in September at the request of fossil fuel utilities.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The EPA’s announcement makes no mention of the risks coal ash poses to human health and the environment. Rather, the agency justified its move by noting it is expected to save the utility sector between $31 and $100 million annually.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Today’s coal ash proposal embodies EPA’s commitment to our state partners by providing them with the ability to incorporate flexibilities into their coal ash permit programs based on the needs of their states,” Pruitt said in a statement.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Coal-fired power plants in the United States produce roughly 140 million tons of coal ash per year, containing toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, selenium and other carcinogenic substances. The waste product is typically stored in wet ponds, nearly 46 percent of which operated without liners to prevent hazardous chemicals from seeping into groundwater, according to 2012 data released by the EPA.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Living within a mile of a wet coal ash storage pond poses a greater health threat than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, raising the risk of cancer to one in 50, an EPA study from 2010 found. Children are particularly at risk of learning disabilities, birth defects, asthma and cancer, with 1.54 million living near such storage sites, according to EPA data cited by the Sierra Club.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">That’s what a corporate raider does, enriches himself no matter what it costs others.  Gordon Gecko is their hero.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That’s who they are.</font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-rented-apartment-linked-to-energy-lobbyist-680c77e61ba2/">https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-rented-apartment-linked-to-energy-lobbyist-680c77e61ba2/</a></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no link</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" /></font></font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Scott Pruitt’s housing arrangement raises concerns about favorable treatment from industry lobbyist</b></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>When he wasn't wining and dining with industry, EPA chief went home to lobbyist's luxury townhouse.</div><div>
</div><div>MARK HAND</div><div>MAR 30, 2018, 11:01 AM</div><div>
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</div><div>ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR SCOTT PRUITT IS UNDER SCRUTINY FOR RENTING AN APARTMENT IN WASHINGTON, D.C. FROM A LOBBYIST. </div><div>
</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt rented a luxury apartment in Washington, D.C. from a lobbyist friend for $50 a night in a pricey Capitol Hill neighborhood, amounting to $6,100 over a six-month period in 2017.</div><div>
</div><div>Many one-bedroom apartments in the same Capitol Hill neighborhood rent for twice as much as Pruitt would pay for his apartment if he rented it for an entire month, according to a ThinkProgress analysis of rental sites.</div><div>
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</div><div>Norm Eisen, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Washington think tank Brookings Institution and chairman of the government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said the $50-per-day rate is “way below market” rate.</div><div>
</div><div><b>The apartment’s co-owner is a health care lobbyist named Vicki Hart. Her husband, <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Steven Hart, is chairman and CEO of Williams and Jensen PLLC, a lobbying firm with several energy industry clients regulated by the EPA</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. The firm’s clients include ExxonMobil and Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co., which paid the firm $400,000 in 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg that was provided by the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit watchdog group.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Government ethics officials will have to decide whether the renting of the apartment at a likely below-market rate constitutes a gift.</div><div>
</div><div>Government ethics rules generally prohibit executive branch employees from accepting gifts from outside the government if the gifts are given because of their official positions or by prohibited sources. Prohibited sources include those who seek official action by the employees’ agencies, do business or seek to do business with their agencies, or conduct activities regulated by their agencies.</div><div>
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the case of Steven Hart, his energy industry lobbying clients are clearly impacted by rules and regulations issued by the EPA. One of his other major fossil fuel clients is <b>Cheniere Energy, a developer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals in the United States. Cheniere built the first LNG export terminal in the continental United States. Each of the LNG export shipments in 2017 from the U.S. originated from Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana.</b></span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In December, Pruitt and members of his staff spent about $40,000 in taxpayer funds to fly to Morocco to urge the North African country to import LNG from the United States.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>Citizens for Ethics</div><div>?</div><div>@CREWcrew</div><div> Scott Pruitt spent almost a year living in a townhouse co-owned by the wife of a top lobbyist. Could it constitute an improper gift? We have an ongoing FOIA request concerning Pruitt’s ethics advice. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-cabinet-trouble-trump-epa-chief-lived-condo/story?id=54095310 …</div><div>
</div><div>7:00 PM - Mar 29, 2018</div><div>
</div><div>Trump's EPA chief lived in condo tied to lobbyist 'power couple'</div><div>For much of his first year in Washington, President Trump’s EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt occupied prime real estate in a townhouse near the U.S. Capitol that is co-owned by the wife of a top energy...</div><div>
</div><div>abcnews.go.com</div><div>1,860</div><div>1,109 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div><b>Steven Hart also serves as an outside counsel for the National Rifle Association.</b></div><div>
</div><div>CREW on Thursday questioned whether Pruitt’s living arrangements at the lobbyist’s townhouse could constitute an improper gift. The watchdog group said in a tweet that is has “an ongoing FOIA request concerning Pruitt’s ethics advice.”</div><div>
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</div><div>Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) said Friday that Pruitt “must immediately make clear the terms of his housing agreement with energy lobbyist Steven Hart, clarify whether he received any favorable treatment, and publish all correspondence with Hart or his associates related to Pruitt’s work at the EPA.”</div><div>
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</div><div>Rep. Don Beyer</div><div>?</div><div>@RepDonBeyer</div><div> .@EPAScottPruitt must immediately make clear the terms of his housing agreement with energy lobbyist Steven Hart, clarify whether he received any favorable treatment, and publish all correspondence with Hart or his associates related to Pruitt's work at the EPA. https://twitter.com/RepDonBeyer/status/979711103826579456 …</div><div>
</div><div>6:26 AM - Mar 30, 2018</div><div>50</div><div>42 people are talking about this</div><div>Twitter Ads info and privacy</div><div>The EPA had not responded to a request for comment from ThinkProgress about whether Pruitt plans to release more information about the housing arrangement.</div><div>
</div><div>Pruitt’s family does not live with him in Washington. His wife, Marlyn Pruitt, lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Pruitt’s daughter McKenna Pruitt, attends law school at the University of Virginia. His son, Cade Pruitt, graduated from Cascia Hall High School in Tulsa in 2017.</div><div>
</div><div>Pruitt’s tenure as EPA administrator has been marked by controversy and questionable ethics. He’s made no secret that one of his primary goals as EPA chief is to create fewer regulatory roadblocks for the nation’s top polluters. During his first year as administrator, Pruitt gave dozens of speeches to industry groups whose members are regulated by the EPA.</div><div>
</div></div><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Homeland Security transition is being led by tobacco giant Altria’s Cindy Hayden. <b>Leading labor is Steve Hart, chairman of Williams <span class="amp">&</span> Jensen,</b> who represents small businesses like Coca-Cola, General Electric, <span class="caps" style="">HSBC</span>, and <span class="caps" style="">VISA</span>. The agricultural sector is being managed by Michael Torrey, who represents lil’ ol’ American Beverage Association.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But what about our core issues of environment and energy? For the Energy Department, Trump’s taking advice from Michael McKenna, who works for <span class="caps" style="">MWR</span> Strategies, which represents the chemical giant Dow, the Kochs, and coal giant Southern Company. It’s been reported for months now that <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/21/1550480/-Harold-Hamm-Sergeant-in-the-War-on-Science" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none;"><u>fracking magnate Harold Hamm</u></a> is in the lead for Secretary of Energy.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On February 9, just days before the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the <span class="caps" style="">U.S.</span> Supreme Court <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/02/09/supreme-court-puts-the-brakes-on-the-epas-clean-power-plan/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">granted a stay</a> freezing President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan (<span class="caps" style="">CPP</span>). 

While many articles have speculated on what Scalia's death means as it relates to the future of the <span class="caps" style="">CPP</span> — and the Court's voting balance tipping from a 5-4 conservative majority to a potential 5-4 liberal majority — there's been less attention paid to the corporate-funded network that launched a slew of lawsuits against the government to add legal muscle to the state Attorneys General attacks on the <span class="caps" style="">CPP</span>.

A DeSmog investigation of the dozens of <a href="http://consideringthegrid.com/stopping-the-clock-on-the-clean-power-plan-4" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">legal challenges filed just before the holidays at the federal Appeals Court level</a>reveals that big corporate interests sit at the center of a coordinated attack against the Obama administration's regulatory attempt to curb emissions for coal-fired power plants.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These plaintiffs include groups with ties to the Koch Brothers, Peabody Energy and <span style=" line-height: 17.6px;">other coal companies, trade associations, </span><span style=" line-height: 1.1em;">and front groups from the utility industry and major corporate law firms.</span></font>

The easy ones to identify are the companies and industry trade associations. These <a href="http://consideringthegrid.com/stopping-the-clock-on-the-clean-power-plan-4" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">include</a> the National Mining Association, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (<span class="caps" style="">ACCCE</span>), Peabody Energy Corporation, Murray Energy Corporation, Norfolk Southern, the Association of American Railroads and others. 

The tougher nut to crack is the identities behind the front groups. We dug into them and put faces to front group names so you don't have to.</font>

<h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Energy-Intensive Manufacturers’ Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Regulation</font></h3>

<p style="margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 18.59px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sometimes a name says it all, which is the case with this group that filed a petition for review with the <span class="caps" style="">U.S.</span> Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on December 22. (Most of the petitions were filed at the last minute on December 22 as the challenge period ended, which happened to conveniently line up with the holiday break, so that may explain some of the lack of attention to this story until now.)

<b>The Energy-Intensive Manufacturers Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Regulation is represented by John J. McMackin, who serves as a principal for the Williams <span class="amp">&</span> Jensen law firm. <span style=" line-height: 17.6px;">McMackin also</span> lobbies for coal-carrying freight rail company Norfolk Southern.</b>

The Working Group's members include Alcoa, Corning, Dow, Holcim U.S., NewPage Corporation, Nucor, Owens Corning, Owens-Illinois, <span class="caps" style="">PPG</span>, Rio Tinto, and <span class="caps" style="">U.S.</span> Steel, according to <a href="https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg67814/pdf/CHRG-111hhrg67814.pdf" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: none;">congressional testimony</a> given by McMackin in 2009.</font>

<h3 style="line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman">Florida Electric Power Coordinating Group</font></h3>