Pruitt Paid Lobbyist $50 a Night for Capitol Hill Apartment

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt paid only $50 a night to lease a room owned by the wife of an energy lobbyist, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. The agreement stipulated that Pruitt pay “only on the nights when he actually slept there,” and paid a total of $6,100 to from March to September 2017 in six checks. An ABC News report also says that Pruitt's daughter McKenna also lived on the property during her White House internship between May and August of 2017. The checks that Pruitt paid were non-regular, ranging from $450 to $1,700. One person described the lease as an “Airbnb-style arrangement,” the difference being that Pruitt made that his residence when he was in Washington. ABC News reports that Pruitt and his daughter occupied “the rest of the condo unit, including the kitchen and living space on a lower level[.]” EPA ethics counsel Justina Fugh said the agreement was not a concern because Pruitt paid rent, and added that the EPA had not reviewed the agreement before Pruitt entered it. The White House reportedly was concerned due to Pruitt’s “initial inability to produce any documentation about his lease or his actual payments,” and EPA aides had to seek proof from the owners.