Total Cost of Scott Pruitt’s Italy Trip Rises to Over $120,000
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a heavily redacted document yesterday, showing that travel costs for the personal security detail that accompanied EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to Rome last June totaled $30,554, a figure that the agency had not previously released.
That information, which includes airline fare, lodging, and accommodations for Pruitt’s security guards, was disclosed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit the Environmental Integrity Project filed on September 19. Citing security concerns, EPA has not been willing to share the more detailed information on expenditures, such as whether they included first class airfares for any security staff.
Eric Schaeffer, Director of the Environmental Integrity Project, said: “Mr. Pruitt’s trip to Rome last summer cost the taxpayers over $120,000, when you add the thirty thousand for personal security to the travel expenses for the administrator and the rest of his entourage…. That’s a lot of money for Mr. Pruitt to tour the Vatican, pose for photos, and tell his European counterparts that global warming doesn’t matter. And it doesn’t even include salary costs for everyone who signed up for this tour. Maybe next time he should just send his regrets.”
Table 1: Summary of costs for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s Italy Trip (June 5-12, 2017).
A detailed analysis of the Administrator’s travel costs from February 21 – August 11, 2017 can be downloaded here.
Travel vouchers for the Italy trip are available here.
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Media Contact: Tom Pelton, Environmental Integrity Project; 443-510-2574; tpelton@environmentalintegrity.org
