Posted on 03/29/2018 11:18:03 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
For much of his first year in Washington, President Trump’s EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt occupied prime real estate in a townhouse near the U.S. Capitol that is co-owned by the wife of a top energy lobbyist, property records from 2017 show.
Neither the EPA nor the lobbyist, J. Steven Hart, would say how much Pruitt paid to live at the prime Capitol Hill address, though Hart said he believed it to be the market rate. The price tag on Pruitt’s rental arrangement is one key question when determining if it constitutes an improper gift, ethics experts told ABC News.
Hart confirmed to ABC News in a brief interview that Pruitt had lived in the flat, which is owned by a limited liability company that links to an address listed to Hart and his wife Vicki Hart, a lobbyist with expertise in the healthcare arena. Steven Hart said Vicki Hart co-owns the condo. He said his wife was not the majority owner, but would not identify her partners.
“I have no ownership interest,” he said. “Obviously, I know the owners.”
Vicki Hart does no lobbying involving the EPA, her husband said.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox declined to answer questions about the arrangement.
Vicki Hart reached on her cell phone, said she would call back to discuss the matter but never did.
Steven Hart declined to address details of the rental agreement, saying it was a private matter and up to Pruitt to decide whether they should be made public.
The White House has not responded to a request for comment from ABC News.
ABC News' Katherine Faulders and Ali Dukakis contributed to this report.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Duke Cunningham is available for consulting.
Didn’t Rohn Emanuel live in a condo, rent free, in Washington that was owned by Connecticut Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro?
But he was a member of the Obama Administration at the time, so that’s peachy keen.
Always cracks me up (not really) how Republicans have to be pristine like the winter’s first driven snow while Dims such as Sen. Menendez have to murder someone on camera, practically, before the media gets on their case. Even then their first instinct will be to protect the Dim.
Even if it’s true, reporting it as if no Liberals does or has done anything like this, is really stupid
So what? He rented a townhouse. Who cares?
Cutting edge journalism. :-)
Trump probably has a Ton of even better EPA Administrator hopefuls waiting in the wings
It’s hard to find ANYONE in D.C. that isn’t up to their neck in some type of quid pro quo. How else can you explain most of congress getting very rich AFTER they get elected?
DRAIN THE SWAMP AND HIRE PEOPLE THAT AREN’T CONNECTED TO D.C. POLITICS AND LOBBYISTS!
Snake NEWS...
So, for all ABC knows, he was paying the market rate and it was perfectly legal. But, rather than wait to find out, they ran with a screaming headline.
These people are pure evil.
>
DRAIN THE SWAMP AND HIRE PEOPLE THAT AREN’T CONNECTED TO D.C. POLITICS AND LOBBYISTS!
>
There’s a step in the MIDDLE and one at the END
M: And (correct) change the Law so it can’t happen again
E: Return Fedzilla to its rightful size
The anti-American leftists apply double standards, as we’ve seen countless times over the decades.
But they can’t come out and make the declarative public statement “We will apply one standard to our people and an entirely different standard to your people.”
Because they don’t make this public statement, I maintain they are hiding what they do. They’re not “telling us what they’re doing,” and they’re not “doing it right in the open” as our side so often comments.
Bottom line: the anti-Americans can only hide what they’re doing, they will never come out and admit their deeds or their strategy in public.
Weak.
Stupid.
So you buy a property from a high muckity muck and that makes you ineligible to be in cabinet?
That standard only exist for members of the Trump administration.
It is common knowledge within the beltway that many members of congress and their key staff live in lobbyist owned housing. This article is pretty amusing for that reason as sphincters probably just tightened all across the capital.
This is a nothing burger.
If he paid market rates, who cares?
Menendez was banging underage girls (maybe boys, WTH knows) and as corrupt politically as any politician who has gone to prison. He is being propped up for re-election and will probably win because voters are morons.
Right after the breaking Tony Rezko story [/s].
Flak is heaviest when over the target.
Pruitt is effective, so the media dedicates more “journalists” to attack him. They in turn, must print something to keep their jobs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.