Pruitt talking points show he plans to shift blame at hearings: report

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt on Thursday will try and shift the blame to others during his two House hearings if questioned about the number of scandals linked to him, according to internal talking points obtained Wednesday by The New York Times.

The document, labeled “hot topics” and written in the first person, provides bullet-point examples for how Pruitt might respond to certain questions during his appearances on Capitol Hill.

The list shows the EPA chief is prepared to pass the buck on raises given to two EPA staffers that came with him from Oklahoma and say that all agency aides that were reassigned, demoted or fired had performance issues, according to the Times.

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Additionally, the document show’s Pruitt plans to highlight that he has begun flying coach class for business travel. 

The talking points focus on a dozen different subjects ranging from questions about Pruitt’s security spending, first-class travel, multiple email addresses and misspending of taxpayer money, the Times reports.

Additionally, the points prep the administrator to answer important policy questions ranging from EPA’s removal of the term “climate change” from a number of documents and websites to his recent policy proposal on “secret science.”

According to the Times, many of the written responses shift blame to his security detail and various staff members for a number of spending decisions.

While the talking points may not be the finalized versions, EPA did not dispute their veracity, according to the newspaper.

Pruitt is expected to face a long list of questions from lawmakers Thursday when he testifies in front of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on the Environment and the House Appropriations Committee subcommittee that handles Interior Department and EPA issues.

The hearings come at a time when Pruitt is seeing some waffling support from Republicans on the Hill who once backed him.

Pruitt is currently facing 10 investigations by the EPA inspector general’s office and last week the Government Accountability Office dealt a rough blow to the administrator, finding that EPA’s construction of a soundproof booth for Pruitt violated the law.