Scott Pruitts Moroccan calendar draws blanks--substantial redactions done!!

[riversedge]

Pruitt is one SOB I really want to see go down!



Scott Pruitt’s Moroccan calendar draws blanks


http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/scott-pruitts-moroccan-calendar-draws-blanks/story?id=54556574

By STEPHANIE EBBS

Apr 18, 2018, 5:35 PM ET

PHOTO: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, right, meets with Moroccan Minister of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development, Aziz Rabbah during a trip to Morocco in December of 2017.
Environmental Protection Agency
WatchEPA head punches back in ethics scandal



Newly released calendars for one of the most controversial trips of Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s tenure were largely blacked out before being shared with ABC News.

The 47-hour journey in Morocco was already drawing congressional scrutiny and criticism from outside groups because of the lack transparency over why Pruitt was in the country and what he was doing while he was there.

In Morocco, he spent at least a portion of his time promoting exports for U.S. energy firms. Conservative congressional estimates put the cost of the trip at more than $40,000, and because of travel snags, Pruitt and his aides spent two days in Paris at high-end hotels.

Pruitt did not publicly announce he was going ahead of time, did not bring reporters along, and when he finally released copies of his itinerary in response to Freedom of Information requests from ABC News and other news organizations, the bulk of the schedule was blacked out.

“The substantial redaction of calendars from his trip to Morocco, in which he apparently spent substantial taxpayer money to work on an issue that could benefit donors and those with ties to him, seems like just the latest example of the inappropriate secrecy he has brought to every aspect of his job.,” Noah Bookbinder, the executive director of the nonpartisan watchdog Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington, said in a statement.

What is known about Pruitt’s trip to Morocco last December comes from a press statement he released as he departed to fly back to D.C. According to the EPA press release, he discussed U.S. environmental priorities and the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement with Moroccan leaders and, to the surprise of some, promoted benefit of liquid natural gas imports in Morocco.

At the time of the trip, the only U.S. company that exported liquid natural gas was represented by a top Washington lobbyist who arranged $50-a-night housing for Pruitt when he first moved to town. The company, Cheniere, and the lobbyist, Steven Hart, both told ABC News they did not ask Pruitt to promote the exports in Morocco.

........



Adam Marshall, an attorney with the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, said the use of the Deliberative Process Privilege is problematic in this case because previous court cases have said it can't be used to redact purely factual information like the date, time, or who attended a meeting.
.....................................

Bookbinder said EPA has for months, systematically withheld records about Pruitt's meetings and work at the agency that are necessary for basic oversight. Multiple news organizations and watchdog groups have sued EPA for documents related to Pruitt's schedule, which the EPA refuses to release in advance of his events citing security reasons.

Link to tweet

[Freethinker65]

1. Burn

[Angry Dragon]

2. Pruitt needs to go..........pay the money back