Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) backed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt in a tweet on Thursday, calling Pruitt “likely the bravest and most conservative member of Trump’s cabinet.”
Sen. Paul tweeted on Thursday morning, “Scott Pruitt is likely the bravest and most conservative member of Trump’s cabinet. We need him to help Donald Trump drain the regulatory swamp.”
Several leftist reporters, outlets, pundits, and politicians came out recently to attack Pruitt and subsequently call for him to drop out.
CNN, the Washington Post, and other outlets have attacked Pruitt for renting out a condominium owned by lobbyists. Pruitt leased a room for roughly $50 a night, paying a total of $6,100.
Jahan Wilcox, an agency spokesman, retorted, “As EPA career ethics officials stated in a memo, Administrator Pruitt’s housing arrangement for both himself and family was not a gift and the lease was consistent with federal ethics regulations.”
Kevin Minoli, the principal deputy general counsel for the EPA, released a memorandum on Thursday detailing how Pruitt’s rental of a condo did not amount to an unethical gift.
Minoli charged in a statement on Thursday:
Today’s memorandum shares the factual analysis done by the career ethics officials and how that analysis supports the conclusion reached in the March 30th Memorandum that the lease did not constitute a prohibited gift. In reaffirming the original decision, the Memorandum also responds to the misunderstanding or mischaracterization of the March 30 memo by explaining what the conclusion covers and what was beyond its scope.
Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign chairman John Podesta called for Pruitt to resign in an op-ed last week in the Washington Post.
The Washington Post editorial board called for Pruitt to resign on Monday.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, a leftist environmental group, called for Pruitt to step aside last week, arguing that Pruitt a “threat to the environment and our health.”
Andy Surabian, a Republican strategist and a former White House special assistant, argued in an op-ed that the reason the media wants Pruitt’s scalp is mostly due to the EPA chief’s leadership in carrying out President Donald Trump’s America First agenda.
Surabian charged:
When it comes to economy-strangling regulations, Pruitt is, as President Donald Trump likes to say, “a total killer.” He has no peer in Trump’s Cabinet in terms of his ability to cut back red tape. From day one, he began dismantling Barack Obama’s legacy with startling effectiveness and cunning. And for this, radical environmentalists and other left-wingers despise him.
Breitbart News’ James Delingpole argued Pruitt continues to suffer the left’s media onslaught because he has served as “the most effective player in Trump’s administration.”
Delingpole contends:
Pruitt is paying a terrible price for the crime of being the most effective player in Trump’s administration. And, of course, for daring to take on the most powerful vested interest in the swamp – the Green Blob, aka the Climate Industrial Complex.
The Green Blob by no means comprises merely Democrats.
Delingpole added, “The knives are out for Pruitt because he has done such a devastatingly effective job.”
The New York Times even noted that “Pruitt has proved to be one of his most effective lieutenants.”