Lobbyist whose wife rented to Pruitt lobbied EPA despite denials
Source: Politico
By THEODORIC MEYER and ELIANA JOHNSON 04/20/2018 06:43 PM EDT Updated 04/21/2018 01:11 AM EDT
The prominent lobbyist whose wife rented a condominium to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt lobbied the agency while Pruitt was leading it, contrary to his and Pruitt’s public denials that he had any business before the agency, according to a Friday filing by his firm.
The disclosure from the lobbying firm Williams & Jensen contradicts Pruitt's public statement last month that the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, had no clients with business before the EPA, and comes hours after Hart’s resignation from the firm.
It’s the latest blow to Pruitt, whose job is already in jeopardy because of multiple investigations into his stewardship of the agency, ranging from spending on a 20-person security team and first-class travel to the installation of costly office furniture and a soundproof phone booth. The Government Accountability Agency said earlier this week that the purchase of the booth, which cost $43,000, violated federal law.
Hart announced he would resign from Williams & Jensen hours before the firm filed a disclosure showing that he lobbied the EPA for Smithfield Foods in the first quarter of 2017. While Hart, the chairman and former chief executive of the firm, has disputed that the contact he had with Pruitt and Pruitt’s chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, constituted lobbying activity, the disclosure indicates otherwise.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/20/pruitt-condo-lobbyist-leaving-firm-543508
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