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As the growing number of investigations into EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s misconduct makes the President’s ongoing decision not to fire him look more ridiculous by the day, Pruitt last week found new ways to disgrace his public office:

AP: “Guards barred an AP reporter from passing through a security checkpoint inside the building. When the reporter asked to speak to an EPA public-affairs person, the security guards grabbed the reporter by the shoulders and shoved her forcibly out of the EPA building.”

This development was not a watershed, however, but rather the latest of many incidents illustrating Pruitt’s contempt for the press, and for the idea that he is in any way accountable to the public he serves. The New York Times’ May 7 story “E.P.A. Emails Show an Effort to Shield Pruitt From Public Scrutiny” used documents obtained by the Sierra Club through a lawsuit to illustrate how Pruitt’s avoidance of transparency was carefully planned and orchestrated:

“The agency’s close control of Mr. Pruitt’s events is driven more by a desire to avoid tough questions from the public than by concerns about security, contradicting Mr. Pruitt’s longstanding defense of his secretiveness…

“The emails, many of which are communications with Mr. Pruitt’s schedulers, show an agency that divides people into ‘friendly’ and ‘unfriendly’ camps…

“Breaking with all of his predecessors at the E.P.A. for the last 25 years, as well as other members of President Trump’s cabinet, he does not release a list of public speaking events and he discloses most official trips only after they are over. Mr. Pruitt doesn’t hold news conferences, and in one episode, journalists who learned of an event were ejected from the premises after an E.P.A. official threatened to call the police...”

Meanwhile, emails, memos, and other internal EPA documents released during May penetrated Pruitt’s veil of secrecy, and helped explain what he is trying to hide:

Letting Donors, Industry, and Special Interests Set EPA Policy

Bloomberg: Oil and Coal Executives Clamored for Time With Pruitt, Records Show

E&E: Pruitt got climate tips from groups backed by GOP megadonors

ThinkProgress: Internal emails show top EPA official lobbied to loosen air pollution rules before joining agency

Politico: White House, EPA headed off chemical pollution study

Reuters: U.S. EPA slows release of formaldehyde cancer risk study-documents

AP: Emails show cooperation among EPA, climate-change deniers

E&E: Emails show Pruitt networking with key Trump allies

Politico: Pruitt fast-tracked California cleanup after Hugh Hewitt brokered meeting

The Intercept: Scott Pruitt’s Policy Director At EPA Met With Hundreds of Industry Representatives, Emails Show

E&E: Emails: Perdue's donors, agency coordinated on biomass

Washington Post: Emails show EPA turned to climate skeptics to craft ‘red team-blue team’ exercise

E&E: Emails: EPA all ears as industry pitched 'secret science'

New York Times: Pruitt’s Plan for Climate Change Debates: Ask Conservative Think Tanks

Luxurious Travel

Washington Post: Lobbyist helped arrange Scott Pruitt’s $100,000 trip to Morocco

New York Times: Ex-Lobbyist for Foreign Governments Helped Plan Pruitt Trip to Australia                            

Daily Beast: Scott Pruitt’s Rome Trip: More Time on Tourism Than Official Business

New Republic: Scott Pruitt Used a Military Helicopter to Visit a Coal Mine

AP: Ex-aide to EPA chief cites weapons problem for flight delay “Perrotta’s account differed from EPA’s official explanation for Pruitt’s lengthy Paris layover in December, which the agency had blamed on poor weather.”

ThinkProgress: Emails show Heritage Foundation offered Pruitt flights, hotel, and talking points for its conference

Wasteful Security Spending

Buzzfeed: Here Are The Actual Threats Made Against EPA Chief Scott Pruitt “One of the threats, made in March, consisted of someone drawing a mustache on Pruitt’s face on the cover of Newsweek and taping the magazine inside of an elevator at an EPA building.”

The Hill: Pruitt asked for 24/7 security before starting at EPA, watchdog says

CNN: Memo says Pruitt flew first class to avoid 'lashing out from passengers'

Memo Released By Senate EPW Dems: Pruitt Personally Requested Lights and Sirens

“But His Emails”

E&E: Pruitt's use of personal email appears routine in state docs

The Hill: Watchdog to probe EPA email preservation

All of these stories were sourced to documents released, primarily in response to FOIA requests and lawsuits, in the month of May. More such releases are anticipated this Summer.