AMERICAN July 201? The Honorable Adam Miles Acting Speeial Counsel ()lliee ol- Speeial Counsel W30 Street Suite W?ashiugtou, DC Etltlilti-rl-till? Dear Mr. Miles: Anteriean Oversight respectfully requests that the ()llire oli Special Counsel immediately open an investigsttiou into wltether EPA :?tdmiuistrator Seott l?ruitt violated government ethirs rules, wasted government funds, or abused his authority by using government resourees to travel to his home state olUl-tlahonta for personal or politit'al reasons. The nonpro?t I'lmriroutuental Integrity Projeet {ltill?l reported its ?nding that Mr. l?ruitt traveled to Oklahoma ten times in roughly tlte Iirst three months ol'his tenure as the l'll?A Admittistrator.1 In total, --13 ol?the :18 days on whieh he traveled between Mareh and May of 20l7?or ninety pereent ol'his travel day's?im'olved travel to ()klahotna.? l'lIP also reported that the airline Ior Mr. l'ruitl?s travel cost the tavpayers over 312,000, not including the price of travel and lodging liu' his stall and seeurity detaih1 Cabinet members?like all government employees?are prohibited from using their ollieial positions for their personal benefit or for partisan political purposes. So, for example, government elhirs rules provide that federal employees may not use their public olliee for their own private gain' and must strive to use ollieial time and government property only for ollieial business." Additionally. the l-lateh Art prohibits federal employees from partieipaliug in eenaiu partisan politieal For that reason, govenuneut ('illieials have previously reimbursed the government lor travel eosts associated with their trips home when those trips were not neressary l'or ollieial business or when the use ol'taspayer Iiutds was found to he improper.T I?rtu'tt Spends Almost Hatti?ts Days '1 lure-Hing to Oklahoma, 15?: v. 21, 2017, Report}. '1 See id. Id. .S'ee? (3.13.11. 2035.702. See .5 R. See 5 [7.5.0 ii 7323. See. Lisa liriedtnan, Scott Pruitt Spent i'lvlur't't of?hrt?t' at EPA. l'at'elmg? Home. Report Hat's. XX. 'l?IMl-L?SJuly 21, 2017, 1030 15th Street. NW. Suite 8255. Washington. DC 20005 I AmericanOversighterg A spokeswoman for the l?ll?A has stated that Mr. l?ruitt's travel ?all serves the purpose of hearingr lrorn hard-working Arneriemrs about how can hetter serve the American people."h However, it strains credulily that the ollicial duties ol'the EPA Administrator required him to spend lolly-three days in Oklahoma, and only live days to other locales ill the remaining ?irty-nine states ol'the llnion. Indeed. as the report noted. Mr. l?ruitt ol'tcn spends three to live days in Oklahoma for a trip containing only one ollicial nrceling. Moreover. the nature of those meetings?touring a chemical pl:u1t and contmninated watershed or receiving an award from an Oklahoma trade group"?raises questions about whether there is a legitimate reason [or consistently holding purportedly ollicial meetings in Oklahoma. or whether they have heen scheduled as a pretest to lacilitatc Mr. l?ruitl?s personal time at home in Oklahoma or his political amhitious for hrture state. ollice. I?articultuly given that Mr. l?ruitt requested an unusually large lil- persou security {lettulm?which racked up a hill ol'over $200,000 for travel expenses throughjuly 201?"?the American people deserve to know whether that travel was truly necessary and, ilinot. to be reimbursed for the improper use of tavpayer l'uuds. American Oversight is a non-partistur oneuriaation dedicated to :u'countahility and ethics in government. doubt we share that commitment with you. Consistent with authority to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by government actors. including ?lvliolationlsl of a law. rule. or regulation," ?gross wastelsl of funds," and "almselsl ol'anthority." as well as ol'the llatch Act.? we urgr you to Mr. l?ruitt's use ol?governntent resources to travel home turd. il'you lint! a violation of" the law. reconuuend appropriate corrective or disciplinary action. Respectfully submitted. Austin R. Evers Executive Director American Oversight lnotint,r that Former EPA Gina McCarthy paid [or her travel home}: Marni Raju. [stem to Repay Hotel (Mar. 21. 2012. 1:38 .'n'wtv.politictLetmt stot'v 2t] ?2 till 122') (Senator Richard Luisa taxpayer money that was improperly used to pay for hotel expenses). 5 See EIP Report. supra note 1. See id; Friedman. supra note 7. Ra? ll?ith 1":le ('nts Jamming. Scott Pruitt ll?ants a [fl-Person. 2.157 .S'ccno'tc Debut. BIIS. INSIDER (Apr. 1'2. 2017, {hill 1rruitt-securitv-euards-?ll?- l. Kevin Bogartlus. Hrk?n'ke in .S'ccnritj' .?a'pcmh'ng tor Pruitt. QUIF. Disclosure of COUNSEL. l?argcs (last visitecljuly 21-, 2017}.