EPA head Scott Pruitt accused of carrying out rollback agenda “in secret”
Given all the Obama-era employee leaks, who could blame him?
After having to retract its “scoop” in the wake of facts about the Trump administration’s handling of climate change reports, The New York Times is trying a different battle tactic.
The Gray Lady is saying that critics are accusing Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, of...carrying out his agenda in secret!
When career employees of the Environmental Protection Agency are summoned to a meeting with the agency’s administrator, Scott Pruitt, at agency headquarters, they no longer can count on easy access to the floor where his office is, according to interviews with employees of the federal agency.
Doors to the floor are now frequently locked, and employees have to have an escort to gain entrance.
Some employees say they are also told to leave behind their cellphones when they meet with Mr. Pruitt, and are sometimes told not to take notes.
Mr. Pruitt, according to the employees, who requested anonymity out of fear of losing their jobs, often makes important phone calls from other offices rather than use the phone in his office, and he is accompanied, even at E.P.A. headquarters, by armed guards, the first head of the agency to ever request round-the-clock security.
There is so much to fisk in the opening paragraphs, I hardly know where to begin:
1) Pruitt has been very clear about his agency’s agenda under President Trump. I encourage NYT reporters to check into Legal Insurrection for my regular updates about Pruitt and his plans. Just a few of the many examples of Pruitt’s very public agenda:
- EPA chief dumps on Obama administration, marks 2nd anniversary of Animas River spill
- What EPA chief’s “red teaming” of “climate change” debate really means
- CHANGE! EPA moves to rescind Obama’s power-grabbing water rules
2) The Trump administration has been plagued by bureaucrats that have signed up for the #Resist army and feel righteously entitled to leak. That Pruitt, the obviously talented head of the nation’s pollution prevention agency, knows how to plug leaks before they become a problem indicates that he is great pick by the President.
3) Legal Insurrection readers will recall that our Secretary of Education was blocked from entering a school and has been forced to bring on a robust security detail. Given the hysteria of climate change activists, I suspect that Pruitt has received enough credible threats that 24-hour security has been assessed as necessary.
Because of the success that Pruitt has had in rescinding some of the more toxic policies of the Obama administration, it is no wonder that the American press is trying to find an effective approach to smear his efforts. It appears that accusing him of “secrecy” is the ticket to undermining his efforts!
For example, in reporting on a closed-door roundtable discussion on the federal government’s proposed revision of the Waters of the U.S. rule that Pruitt attended in Fargo on Wednesday, The Bismark Tribune reported:
[North Dakota Gov. Doug] Burgum said the roundtable was closed out of respect for the wishes of the EPA administration, though Burgum, along with Hoeven and Cramer, answered questions regarding what was discussed.
…Representatives of a group called Democratic Socialists of America shouted questions at Pruitt as he left NDSU, and they also peppered Cramer, Hoeven and Burgum with questions, though they went unanswered.
A group spokesman, Zac Echola, said their intent was to underscore that “secret” meetings are undemocratic and that climate change is an emergency.
I will simply point out that the New York Times report is based on anonymous sources. The assertions in that article are already being refuted as #FakeNews:
Liz Bowman, a spokeswoman for the EPA, denied all the anonymous accounts by agency employees. “None of this is true,” she said. “It’s all rumors.”
“It’s very disappointing, yet not surprising, to learn that you would solicit leaks, and collude with union officials in an effort to distract from the work we are doing to implement the president’s agenda,” she told the Times.
However, what the report does prove is that Pruitt has been very effective in implementing the President’s agenda in the past 8 months. Hence, he is now being lobbed with #FakeNews bombs.
I sure hope my fisking of the NYT article doesn’t get me classified as a domestic terrorist threat!
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
Fist the NYT!
I work at a federal agency (since last year) and almost EVERY OFFICE AREA is a locked/secured area. Only those authorized to go in may pass; some areas are locked with an intercom to request access, and you’re escorted wherever you go (and not, this is NOT a top secret or high-security agency). This is SOP in the federal government – anyone who works there KNOWS this.
What a bunch of lying liars…..but then, it is the EPA and they’ve been lying for DECADES……
I still believe the existing EPA should be dissolved, and a smaller, completely re-structured and leveled public-private agency with NONE of the current bureaucrats/execs should be re-hired. They are all too tainted. Plenty more REAL environmental scientists who want to be good stewards of our nation’s natural resources, air, water, etc. are around to fill in the gaps. Yes, I can dream…….
I had occasion to visit the FAA office in Charlotte a couple years ago. It was as you said: Behind a locked door and, although I had an appointment, I had to request access via an intercom. They buzzed me in.
Local postal offices have been secured areas since the 1986 shooting in Oklahoma and the dock area since 9/11.
*wish you had an edit button……. I won’t fix my errors, but I apologize for the missing words, poor sentences, etc. Read it thru too quickly, with too much emotion…….. 🙁
No judgement here for typos in comments!
…and he is accompanied, even at E.P.A. headquarters, by armed guards, the first head of the agency to ever request round-the-clock security.
Yeah, does the name James T. Hodgkinson ring a bell?
With regard to the security measures at EPA —
I’ve had occasions to go to small, invited conferences at NIH. These were about medical research issues, nothing controversial. Upon entry to the building in Rockville I had to go through TSA-style security — wand over my body, step through the electronic gate, keys and briefcase through an x-ray machine. I was then escorted everywhere I went inside the building. The floor I went to had offices as well as the conference room in which we had our meeting, and I was told — politely — to stay away from the office suites. I have no doubt that had I been of a mind to cause trouble by wandering about, I would have been politely, and firmly, escorted out of the building.
That’s NIH, hardly a hotbed of federal policy.
“There is so much to fisk in the opening paragraphs, I hardly know where to begin.”
I see what you did there …
Names of accusers, or it didn’t happen.
“EPA Head Scott Pruitt accused of carrying out rollback agenda “in secret”
Let’s just let Pruitt do it!
Not to worry, no one at the nyt even bothers to read their own paper. They know there aren’t many facts in any of the stories.
Hopefully Sarah Palin will sell the NYT to the Inquirer so they can improve their credibility.
I keep saying it: term limits for all federal employees. It’s the only way to get rid of the rot. Replace them with honest non-corrupt Americans who have lived in the real world.
Or continue to be oppressed by the Administrative State, unelected and beholden to the Marxist Left. Remember the attitude Lois Lerner took with Congress? She knew she was above the law. This must stop.
The first big step would be abolishing public service unions. Even diplomats have a union.