Scott Pruitt's D.C. Lobbyist Landlord Also Funded His Oklahoma Attorney General Campaign

[DonViejo]

Source: The Daily Beast



The townhouse where Pruitt stayed was known on the Hill as ‘the Williams & Jensen condo’

SAM STEIN
LACHLAN MARKAY

04.03.18 1:53 PM ET

Before Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt rented a room from a top DC energy lobbyist, that lobbyist and his wife funded Pruitt’s efforts to climb the political ladder in his home state of Oklahoma.

Campaign finance records in the state show that Steven and Vicki Hart, the power couple who last year rented Pruitt a room in their Capitol Hill home for $50 per night, began donating to Pruitt’s campaigns for Oklahoma attorney general in 2010. Steven Hart even hosted a fundraiser for Pruitt’s reelection effort.

The cascading controversy over Pruitt’s living arrangements has roiled his standing in the administration. The New York Times reported on Monday that a client of Hart’s firm, Williams & Jensen, received EPA approval for an oil pipeline project while Pruitt rented a room in Hart’s home. Also on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was investigating Pruitt’s conduct. And on Tuesday, The Washington Post revealed that a top Pruitt aide who oversaw a pair of allied political groups had been tasked with finding living arrangements for the administrator in Washington. But one detail has remained murky: how, and when, the relationship between Pruitt and the Harts began. A Daily Beast review of public records reveals that that relationship goes back years, and has resulted in significant financial upside for Pruitt’s political operation.

The Harts’ first apparent contribution to Pruitt was a $500 donation in October of 2010, about two weeks before Pruitt was first elected attorney general. They donated $1,000 the following year, and $250 the year after. When Pruitt ran for reelection in 2014, Steven Hart footed the bill for a fundraising reception benefitting his campaign. After he was reelected, Pruitt set up a federal political committee that made contributions to allied Republicans. Hart donated to that group in 2015.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/scott-pruitts-dc-lobbyist-landlord-also-funded-his-oklahoma-attorney-general-campaign?ref=home

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Results guaranteed, AND your money back. NT

[justhanginon]

2. Long time ownership does have its advantages as

evidenced by recent events with the EPA's Pruitt's decisions.

[riversedge]

3. Nothing but WH #Corruption!

[Vinca]

4. The very worst part of this is that he took a taxpayer-funded jaunt overseas to pimp the lobbyist's

business interests when nothing remotely close to that kind of activity is in his job description.

[gilligan]

5. I will drain the swamp!

D.J.T.