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A report conducted by an Internal Watchdog revealed that the former Environmental Protection Agency’s chief Scott Pruitt spent millions of dollars on security details, said the Guardian on Tuesday.
Investigations found that Pruitt’s security requirements were unjustified which «escalated the cost for the taxpayer», says the same source.
Pruitt, who was forced to resign in July because of his scandalous expenses as head of the American agency, asked for a 24/7 security team. He also kept 20 security members while heading the agency, shows the Internal Watchdog report.
According to Vox, the US inspector general reported that security costs doubled from «$1.6 million to $3.5 million during Pruitt’s first 11 months in office, and that the threats Pruitt reported did not justify the increase».
For the record, Pruitt was slammed in the past for his expenses, including his trip to Morocco. He was questioned by senators at the Congress for promoting liquefied gas imports in the Kingdom and for the money he spent during the trip.
Too many weapons on Scott Pruitt's flight to Morocco
Security details were also at the heart of Scott Pruitt’s December trip to Rabat. An investigation published by Associated Press in May revealed that on their way to the Kingdom, Pruitt and his staff missed a connecting flight in Paris due to weapons and other gear.
AP’s revelations suggest that Pruitt spent 24 hours in Paris after his staff had problems «transferring the weapons between planes in time», according to former security chief Pasquale Perrotta.
In a different account, EPA explained that Pruitt’s flight was delayed due to bad weather and that his «departure from Washington was affected by the snow».
On the other hand, Associated Press revealed that Pruitt «could have made a connecting flight and a reserved back-up flight to Morocco if not for the complications over the security team’s guns and gear».
In details, the same source points out that Pruitt’s security staff was carrying weapons and other gear, transported in the «cargo hold» of the plane. The staff did not have time to transfer the equipment to the connecting flight to Rabat which caused the delay.
Scott Pruitt had a backup flight from Paris to Casablanca but it was not used as the «Moroccan authorities had approved the weapons and other security gear only through Rabat», says the same source.
For the record, the EPA’s inspector general stated that reports on Pruitt’s travel expenses will be released soon.
