An Obama-era career EPA official confirmed Thursday that Scott Pruitt needed a waiver for first-class travel after passengers consistently confronted the agency chief over his climate policies.
“He was approached in the airport numerous times, to the point of profanities being yelled at him and so forth,” Henry Barnet, director of the agency’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, told Politico. Pruitt’s use of expensive business flights for international flights have created media speculation.
“The team leader felt that he was being placed in a situation where he was unsafe on the flight,” said Barnet, a longtime law enforcement official who joined the EPA during former President Barack Obama’s first term.
He recounted one incident last year in Atlanta when a passenger approached Pruitt and screamed: “‘Scott Pruitt, you’re f—ing up the environment.”
His remarks come nearly a week after The Washington Post and CBS News tag-teamed on reports detailing how Pruitt racked up nearly $90,000 in-flight expenses.
CBS reported Tuesday that Pruitt traveled to Italy in June for meetings at the Vatican and to attend a summit with international energy ministers. The round-trip business-class flight cost at least $7,000, according to the report.
The entire trip — both ways — cost more than $43,000 dollars, according to travel vouchers environmental activist group Environmental Integrity Project obtained. Government policy allows officials access for first-class travel on 14-hour international flights.
WaPo published a similar report earlier this month, which highlighted, or rehashed, Pruitt’s flight records dating back to Trump’s first year in office. The headline on the outlet proclaimed: “First-class travel distinguishes Scott Pruitt’s EPA tenure.”
The CBS report did not mention the record number of death threats being leveled against the agency — WaPo didn’t do much better. It reported what amounts to a parenthetical reference to the increased danger associated with being a member of the Trump administration.
Threats against officials at the agency and Pruitt have spiked 50 percent during 2017, according to an NBC report in 2017.
EPA’s Office of Inspector General launched more than 70 investigations into threats against Pruitt and others at the agency, the Oct. 6 report noted. None of the threats resulted in injuries, but they were deemed legitimate risks to officials.
EPA calculated that placing Pruitt in first-class would help isolate Pruitt from security threats, Barnet said in his interview Thursday. This, despite WaPo theorizing that the agency chief wanted to sit in the front section of the plane because it might be safer in the event of a crash.
“We felt that based on the recommendation from the team leader, the special agent in charge, that it would be better suited to have him in business or first class, away from close proximity from those individuals who were approaching him and being extremely rude, using profanities and potential for altercations and so forth,” Barnet said.
Read more at Daily Caller
This is what happens when you threaten to take down a $trillion fraud .
Seth Rich leaked Podesta ‘s E mails and got 2 bullets in the back .
Mr . Pruitt could take private planes if it helps with the task of
cleaning out the EPA and putting rent seekers out of business .
Mr . Pruitt is absolutely doing what is in the public interest
which will never please the earth has a fever con – men .
Nice to see the “denier ” Pope has finally been exposed . Very lame apology . Very lame .
When Rob Ford was Mayor of Toronto, he didn’t use his expense account. This made the Socialist city council – people uncomfortable. They voted on a motion that reprimanded him.
Why the hell should ANY executive have to fly in economy seats? If Hillary had won and appointed her leftist friends to her cabinet they would have been duly appointed official American executives in some of the most important positions in the world. As much as I would have disagreed with their politics, I would never have questioned their seats in first class, or even executive military aircraft if their mission was important. This stupid nonsense by the hateful-left is just that. Hateful and stupid.
Earthfirst is a radical group of enviromental extremists who have spiked trees the Unibomber was a big fan of Al Bore and his junk science book Earth in the Balance the Disccovery Channel hostage taker was a fan of Al Bores junk science fake Documentry A Incontvent Truth Paul Ehrlich and his populationists wackos some actualy want to make having kids declared a Crime Against the Planet some freako named Screaming Wolf has called for the murder of people to save the animals and the earth and groups like the Earth Liberation Front(ELF)as well as the tree sitters and tree huggers in fact a few years ago a bunch of these wackos were weeping for the Trees and i bet their all Pro Choice and Pro Abortion
Rude. Indignation. Tirades. Threats. Unhinged. Profane. Hypocrisy. Hyperbole.
Poor – loser Syndrome.
“Pruitt traveled to Italy in June for meetings at the Vatican”
What the hell does the Vatican have to do with the EPA?? There are very bad things going on with this so-called pope. He has gone rogue, pandering to Islam, defending molester priests in S. America and deliberately ignoring Catholics. Bishops and cardinals had better start doing some damn serious thinking or they will be losing Catholics and letting Islam violence rule the world, supported and encouraged by Trudeau.
Maybe investing in some $10 ear plugs or a $60 set of shooting ear protection would have made more sense. He should be escorted by security through airports and public places, but there’s no special protection from irate ideology in first class than say in tourist.
When she was Speaker, Nancy Pelosi demanded an executive Air Force jet that could take her home to California non-stop. Now the left has their undies in a bunch because a Cabinet member uses commercial first-class…
Next thing we know, they will demand Pruit be thrown in the baggage compartment.
Lousy Puhlousy did far worse than that
She had the Air Force a la carte blanche
flying her entire family all over the world
for their ” vacations ”
Including her grandchildren
I’d like the GAO to give an accounting
for what that cost the taxpayers during her
” Speaker ” years.
And if the mythical Trump-Russia investigation is justified
An intense investigation of Puhlousy is.
And I haven’t mentioned
URANIUM ONE
yet.