EPA watchdog suggests agency recover $124,000 in Pruitt's 'excessive' travel expenses
Source: Washington Post
The Environmental Protection Agency should consider recovering nearly $124,000 in improper travel expenses by former EPA chief Scott Pruitt, the agency’s inspector general recommended Thursday.
The findings, issued nearly a year after Pruitt resigned amid controversy over his spending, travel and ties to lobbyists and outside groups, highlight the fiscal impact of his penchant for high-end travel and accommodations. Investigators concluded that 40 trips Pruitt either took or scheduled during a 10-month period, between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2017, cost taxpayers $985,037.
The bulk of those expenses were for Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail, which billed $428,896 in travel costs. The agency spent an additional $339,894 on staffers traveling with the former administrator. The “questioned amount” the inspector general’s office identifies for possible recovery is the $123,941 that taxpayers spent on flying both Pruitt and a security agent in first- or business class, instead of coach. The report also highlights the extent to which Pruitt’s official travel revolved around trips to Tulsa, Okla., where he maintained a home while a member of President Trump’s Cabinet. It noted that out of the 40 trips investigators scrutinized, 16 included “travel to, or stops in, Oklahoma” — where Pruitt maintained a residence.
The EPA watchdog details a litany of other problems with the way Pruitt and his entourage spent taxpayer money on official trips: Exceptions for first- and business-class travel were approved for Pruitt and his security detail “without sufficient justification,” and “approved by an individual who did not initially have the authority to grant such approval." In addition, lodging costs in excess of 150 percent of per diem guidelines “were not approved and/or adequately justified”; international trip reports were “inaccurate and incomplete.” “Actions are needed to strengthen controls over the EPA’s travel and prevent fraud, waste and abuse,” the inspector general’s office writes.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/05/16/epa-watchdog-suggests-agency-recover-pruitts-excessive-travel-expenses/?utm_term=.ad117bee8be0
= new reply since forum marked as read
12 month installments, but I suppose he has time on his hands! 
