Trump appointees purging civil servants at the VA

"There's a long history, even in the Trump era, of turmoil at VA … lots of qualified people left, because they were concerned about the chaos." – @Reinlwapo, reporter for the Washington Post, talks about the Veterans Affairs staff shake-up https://t.co/oMWTbMGhqh pic.twitter.com/jf0bCefwYF

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) July 19, 2018

The Washington Post article states:

“Ahead of Robert Wilkie’s likely confirmation to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Trump loyalists at the agency are taking aggressive steps to purge or reassign staff members perceived to be disloyal to President Trump and his agenda for veterans, according to multiple people familiar with the moves.
The transfers include more than a dozen career civil servants who have been moved from the leadership suite at VA headquarters and reassigned to lower-visibility roles. The employees served agency leaders, some dating back more than two decades, in crucial support roles that help a new secretary.”

Tom Price wasted $341,000 of taxpayer money

He didn’t last as long as Pruitt who was more corrupt.

Some of the examples in the IG report on Price are remarkable

In one case, he took a chartered flight from Seattle to DC that cost $121K

Average commercial fare would've cost $2,490

There was also a chartered option that could've cost $45K less – but his office didn't pick it https://t.co/4iEWeohaDF

— Mark Berman (@markberman) July 13, 2018

In 21 trips Tom Price took as health secretary, 20 of them violated federal travel rules, an inspector general said https://t.co/22IkjNMj0U

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 14, 2018

Kushner lacks clearance to see the most sensitive secrets

Why is he still there?

SCOOP: Jared Kushner lacks clearance to see US intel community's most closely guarded secrets. Me w @jdawsey1 and @AshleyRParker https://t.co/IIrSEdvn6c

— Carol Leonnig (@CarolLeonnig) July 12, 2018

There are still conflict of interest issues

The Trump team grows swampier still. The fact that no congressional committee is looking into the effects of White House conflicts of interest on national and international policy is an abdication of the constitutional duty of Congress to oversee the executive branch — again. https://t.co/ER7su0SNxI

— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 11, 2018

Pruitt’s legacy of damage to the environment

Pruitt is gone but he did a lot of harm to our country and people.

Health researchers have argued that Scott Pruitt's kind of environmental agenda would lead to an additional 80,000 deaths per decade. https://t.co/nIYdTEHrGI

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 8, 2018

Scott Pruitt's efforts to roll back environmental regulations could have a lasting impact on low-income communities and people of color — who are more likely to suffer the harms of polluted water, air, and soil. https://t.co/8gEoIr2X8L

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 10, 2018

5 polluting industries that won big from Scott Pruitt’s tenure at the EPA https://t.co/yX6nE5v1XO

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 10, 2018

In the final hours of Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator, the EPA moved to effectively grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel… https://t.co/2a7xRzwgQA

— Baltimore Fiber (@BmoreFiber) July 9, 2018

Good riddance! We’ll All Be Paying for Scott Pruitt for Ages https://t.co/26iCVouZxV

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) July 7, 2018

update:

Environmental Defense Fund, Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club have jointly just sent a letter to Acting Administrator Wheeler asking him to reverse last day of Pruitt era move re so-called "Super Polluting" glider trucks pic.twitter.com/ZYay90T1RD

— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) July 10, 2018

You know what they say about payback

"The Pruitt situation should be a warning sign to the administration about what will happen if the Democrats take the House." https://t.co/qiV4kOp3uD

— Axios (@axios) July 8, 2018

Bill Shine’s wife tweeted racist tweets

Bill Shine was recently appointed to a high-level job by Trump. He resigned from Fox for during all of the sexual harassment problems there. Now, we find that his wife tweeted racist tweets. Of course, Trump won’t criticize her.

NEW: Bill Shine’s Wife Complained She Couldn’t Use N-Word and Spread Conspiracy Theories About ‘Blacks’ https://t.co/A5OaY7ZEQm (by @calebecarma) pic.twitter.com/RXrOhCzJMN

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 6, 2018

These are very recent, very racist comments. Bill Shine must have known that his wife was tweeting this stuff. https://t.co/WSIphOnmTE

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 7, 2018

Update on 7/8:

The White House's new communications chief, Bill Shine, is staying silent about his wife's shocking history of racist tweets, anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, etc. No comment from the WH this weekend… https://t.co/gGIIyLFh7a

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 8, 2018

update 7/11:

Sunscreen is a hoax? https://t.co/EI1mQODPyU

— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) July 11, 2018

update 7/12:

The controversy around Darla Shine, wife of White House communications chief, explained https://t.co/0DkXn6wcZ6

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 12, 2018

“The best people”

Who’s going to work for Trump in the later years of his term? He attacks his appointees publicly and nobody that I can think of has benefitted from working for him after their time in the administration.

This administration is running so smoothly. https://t.co/LnKaiPhnbY

— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) July 6, 2018

Trump designated 24 Cabinet-level offices, and no president in the last 40 years has had as much turnover in those positions as quickly as Trump has. https://t.co/BBbAjipzlj pic.twitter.com/VrqXXg71Br

— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) July 6, 2018

President Trump’s record-breaking staff churn continued with Scott Pruitt's resignation. Pruitt is the 5th cabinet-level official to be forced out or resign since Trump took office. https://t.co/ZpyA4pRRM9

— NYT Politics (@nytpolitics) July 6, 2018

"All told, Trump has had more turnover of Cabinet-level positions than any president at this point in their tenure in the last 100 years." https://t.co/lBbjz8aERk

— Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) July 5, 2018

Trump has had the most Cabinet-level staff turnover at this point in his presidency than any other president in the past 100 years. https://t.co/I1deH7j3Je

— Vox (@voxdotcom) July 5, 2018

Me, on the revolving door nature of the Trump White House pic.twitter.com/5eisknnAlO

— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) July 6, 2018

With Scott Pruitt's resignation, our Trump administration departure tracker rolls back to zero https://t.co/99wzp6zVn9 pic.twitter.com/irf5lgsEmQ

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 5, 2018

EPA is blocking the release of a study on a cancer-causing chemical

Pruitt appointees did this. Sad!

EPA is blocking the release of a report that shows most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor to be at risk for cancer and other ailments https://t.co/DpPVGlhY7t

— POLITICO (@politico) July 6, 2018

From the article “The EPA officials told Politico that Trump appointees have canceled key briefings that would have advanced the study and placed undue requirements on officials who would begin the required internal review of the formaldehyde study.
“They’re stonewalling every step of the way,” the current official said.”

Pruitt finally resigns

It’s way overdue! Trump still defends him; corruption doesn’t bother him.

Keep the investigations going! Thanks to the media for the investigations and whistleblowers for telling us the truth.

I’m waiting for right wing media to blame the media for his resignation.

Pruitt still showed up at White House July 4 festivities yesterday. https://t.co/SRruxkxKYQ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) July 5, 2018

.@EPAScottPruitt does not acknowledge any errors in resignation letter but rather cites criticism he has endured: “the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us”
— David Shepardson (@davidshepardson) July 5, 2018

Notable that Trump called this a resignation. He didn't even fire the guy facing more than a dozen investigations.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) July 5, 2018

I can think of a lot of words to describe Scott Pruitt's tenure at the EPA. "Outstanding" is not one of them. https://t.co/sj1ho5qGPM
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) July 5, 2018

Also important to note: what got Pruitt out was not screams and temper tantrums but relentless, daily, detailed reporting on what he was doing. That's how it's done. https://t.co/t3XEHihvqu
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 5, 2018

Good riddance https://t.co/KGBmv68vdf
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) July 5, 2018

Never apologize, always double down, even when you're on your way out the door. https://t.co/gSXL3Yahtt
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) July 5, 2018

Why did @EPAScottPruitt resign?

-A free press
-Whistleblowers & unnamed sources
-Public outrage

Also, everyone knows that Ritz Carlton moisturizing lotion is overrated and not worth the cost. Scott Pruitt using taxpayer funds to get that lotion was likely the final straw. https://t.co/AI9f0A9Bn6
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) July 5, 2018

The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency is a former coal lobbyist & aide to Sen. Inhofe, who called climate change “the greatest hoax” perpetrated on Americans and then brought a snowball into the Senate to show those fancypants “scientists” that winter still exists.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 5, 2018

Checks and balances worked — whistleblowers, journalists, IG's, lawmakers all played a part in exposing Scott Pruitt's abuses of power https://t.co/3JJ6cMzmLn
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 5, 2018

Florida Republican in the House contradicts Trump by telling the truth about how awful Pruitt was… https://t.co/ogBqUpZf7C
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) July 5, 2018

Not a single story we wrote about Scott Pruitt and his tenure at the EPA-by me or my colleagues at The NYT-was personal. It was about transparency, accountability, & governance. Pruitt likes to call it "The Rule of Law" He just gave us an enormous amt of material to write about.
— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) July 5, 2018

There was very good journalism on Scott Pruitt's shenanigans. Investigative reporting has now been at least partly responsible for the departures of Trump's EPA administrator, national security adviser, health secretary and staff secretary.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 5, 2018

NEW: Inspector General investigation into improper travel by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt *WILL CONTINUE*, despite resignation. Per @NBC4ITeam
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) July 5, 2018

Hmm. I thought God said “Thou shalt not steal.” https://t.co/SWXuzOYrlM
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) July 5, 2018

.@ChuckGrassley (who's been critical of Pruitt) says, in part: "Fewer things are more important for government officials than maintaining public trust. Administrator Pruitt, through his own actions, lost that trust."
— Elizabeth Landers (@ElizLanders) July 5, 2018

"In the minutes following the announcement of the resignation, The Daily Beast received numerous messages from multiple former EPA staffers, &…WH officials, celebrating the news. Some were simply left in shock that his ouster from the Trump admin. actually, finally happened" https://t.co/tIkh7NKxjP
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) July 5, 2018

The US taxpayer spent $43,000 for Scott Pruitt to have a soundproof phone booth put in his office.

He made one 5 minute call to the White House from it. https://t.co/mQ12rphnAW pic.twitter.com/G3tSzS7vXi
— Peter W. Singer (@peterwsinger) August 20, 2018

i'm shocked https://t.co/VhIS1x43YN
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) March 7, 2019

EPA administrator criticizes inspector general’s conclusions on Scott Pruitt’s alleged abuses

My 19th Pruitt roundup (new stuff since 6/25)

Unbelievable! He’ll never get fired if he gets away with all this. This is all new since the last update.

fundraising ally in charge of releasing documents
Pruitt and his aides kept secret calendars
Pruitt asked aides to pay his hotel bills and then did not pay them back
Pruitt asked an aide to get Pruitt’s wife a job
The EPA’s ethics officer pushed for investigations of Pruitt
Pruitt involved with “ratf***ing” aides he feels betrayed him
Pruitt emails reveal he exempted oil companies from smog rules
Pruitt sought EPA jobs for family and friends
Pruitt urged Trump to fire Sessions and replace him with Pruitt

Reminder: Scott Pruitt is facing at least 14 federal probes regarding his spending, management and ethics. https://t.co/94UR3dRAIw

— David P Gelles (@gelles) July 3, 2018

Scott Pruitt placed a former political fundraising ally in charge of an office that has been slow to release his most sensitive documents https://t.co/5CiekoPy8v

— POLITICO (@politico) July 3, 2018

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Pruitt personally involved in "ratfucking" ex-aides who he feels betrayed him. @lachlan and @swin24 report: https://t.co/mZ49R0SrBv

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) June 28, 2018

Scott Pruitt repeatedly asked his 25-year-old staffers to put hotel reservations on their personal credit cards rather than his — then refused to pay them back.

Breathtaking. https://t.co/dEcnWtUcNv

— Alexander Kaufman (@AlexCKaufman) July 3, 2018

NEW: A former top EPA aide told investigators that Scott Pruitt asked her to get his wife a job at the Republican Attorney Generals Association, which he once led. He demanded the salary be over $200,000. The aide said it wouldn't be ethical. Our latest: https://t.co/QDDiAkShdX

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) July 2, 2018

News: The E.P.A.’s ethics officer—who in the past defended Scott Pruitt—behind the scenes was pushing to investigate him, a new document reveals. By @EricLiptonNYT https://t.co/3U0kJmktx7

— Jesse Pesta (@JessePesta) June 30, 2018

Conservative groups like Tea Party Patriots (which keep donor lists to its 501c4 secret) continue to come to the defense of Pruitt, argue that his ethics troubles are result of liberals/bias news media. Makes me wonder yet again: who really funds them? https://t.co/Uljc8ZlsJZ

— Eric Lipton (@EricLiptonNYT) July 2, 2018

New emails reveal Pruitt exempted oil companies from smog rules https://t.co/jLdOH9IGZD pic.twitter.com/o8RiLVASN0

— The Hill (@thehill) July 3, 2018

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt's allies sought EPA jobs for friends, family; companies suggested hires, according to internal EPA emails. https://t.co/U4JVyuS1ie pic.twitter.com/9sSyvHLUr2

— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 3, 2018

It’s not clear that Trump could legally fire Sessions and replace him with Pruitt — it’s disputed whether the Federal Vacancies Reform Act applies to firings as opposed to resignations/death. 1/ https://t.co/IGsVplmO81

— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) July 3, 2018