EPA security chief, Superfund head leave amid ethics probes

The two top officials in charge of security and toxic-waste cleanups at the Environmental Protection Agency have abruptly left their jobs, days after EPA administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers that his subordinates were to blame for alleged ethical lapses that have prompted more than a dozen federal investigations of the agency.

In statements today, Pruitt praised the two men security chief Pasquale "Nino" Perrotta and Albert Kelly, a former Oklahoma banker who ran the EPA's Superfund program and gave no reason for their unexpected departures.

Perrotta is due to appear tomorrow for a transcribed interview by staffers of the House Oversight Committee, one of the congressional bodies and federal agencies that are probing reported excessive spending by Pruitt and other issues at the agency. Committee aides said Perrotta's resignation was not expected to derail his appearance.

EPA spokespeople Jahan Wilcox said the two men's departures were unrelated to the ongoing federal investigations, and said the agency was fully cooperating with the congressional probe, led by House Oversight Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican.

Pruitt's spending on security, and some of the security contracts with Perrotta, are among the topics of the federal probes involving the EPA under Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general.

Pruitt, an ardent advocate of minimising regulation who moves in conservative political circles, evangelical Christian ones, and business groups, has survived the kind of scandals that have brought down several other Cabinet appointees of President Donald Trump.

Today, The Washington Post reported that a Pruitt trip to Morocco last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, Richard Smotkin, who last month received a USD 40,000-a-month contract with the Moroccan government to promote its cultural and economic interests. The trip, which has drawn scrutiny from federal watchdogs, cost more than USD 100,000, more than twice the amount previously estimated, the Post said.