The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head’s search for his favorite lotion meant a search of Washington, D.C., locations with his security team in tow, according to a new Washington Post report.
Administrator Scott Pruitt’s 24-hour security detail were tasked with running mundane errands for him that included driving Pruitt to locate his favorite lotion at Ritz Carlton Hotels and taking his clothing to the dry cleaner, the Post reported Thursday.
In the lotion search, two sources told the Post, Pruitt directed his agents to drive him to multiple Ritz-Carlton hotel locations in search of his preferred scented substance.
Pruitt has been criticized by lawmakers for multiple reports of using his staffers’ time for personal errands, including sending his scheduler Milan Hupp to look at condos for him and search for a used mattress at the Trump International Hotel.
In testimony given to House committee staff and released to the public this week, Hupp confirmed that she spent hours of her personal and work time helping Pruitt search for a condo — a quest that she said lasted months. Hupp resigned from her post at the EPA on Wednesday.
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Agency spokeswoman Kelsi Daniell said in a statement, “Administrator Pruitt follows the same security protocol whether he’s in his personal or official capacity.”
An EPA spokesperson clarified that Pruitt’s security detail drives him to all errands at his request
The dry cleaning pick-up was reportedly assigned to agents separately from escorting Pruitt, the Post said.
As more stories surface related to Pruitt’s ethics and use of taxpayer money at the agency, members of Congress including some Republicans are growing increasingly weary of the scandals.
Additional stories have recently surfaced that Pruitt’s 24-hour security detail cost Americans $3.5 million in the first year, and that he used his position to help find his wife a “business opportunity” at the fast food chain Chick-fil-A.
“I think he’s acting like a moron,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), who’s been an outspoken critic of Pruitt over his scandals, told reporters on Wednesday following the latest reports.
“I’m astounded at some of the stuff I read,” Kennedy continued. While the senator said he supports Pruitt’s agenda, he added, “I’m not going to come down here, just because he happens to be a nominee of a president I support, or a nominee from my party, and try to defend the indefensible.”