EPA chief flew on private and military aircraft for official business: report

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt used both private and military aircraft for official travel over the summer.

The EPA confirmed that Pruitt made one round-trip flight on a private plane and two trips on a government plane, CNN reported. 

Pruitt flew from Cincinnati to New York’s JFK airport on an Air Force plane on June 7, before boarding a commercial flight to Italy for a Group of Seven environmental summit. 

A spokesman for the EPA told CNN that the use of the military plane was necessary “due to logistical obstacles and the need to schedule meetings with the Vatican before the G7 Summit.”

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On Aug. 4, Pruitt flew on a private jet from Denver to Durango, Colo., and back, because his commercial flight had been delayed by more than five hours, CNN reported, citing an EPA spokesman. 

Both flights were reportedly cleared by the agency’s ethics council. 

The revelation that Pruitt used government and private planes for official government travel comes as other Trump administration officials, including Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, face scrutiny for flights using military or private aircraft.

The Treasury Department inspector general is looking into Mnuchin’s use of a government plane during a trip to Kentucky last month.

And the Health and Human Services inspector general is reviewing Price’s use of private planes that reportedly cost taxpayers some $400,000.