Real World Problems Of The Super Rich

You know what sucks? Coming back to your apartment after a long hard day destroying the environment, polluting the air, poisoning the water, and fostering Lead-melting Venus-like Global Warming, and finding the landlord has tossed all your stuff into the front yard and changed the locks.

Lobbyist couple had to change the locks on Pruitt
By ELIANA JOHNSON, Politico
04/06/2018

Scott Pruitt was only supposed to be living in the Capitol Hill condominium that has become a focal point of his latest ethics controversy for six weeks last year while he got settled in Washington – but the new Environmental Protection Agency administrator didn’t leave when his lease ended.

Instead, he asked the lobbyist couple who became his disgruntled landlords to revise his lease several times, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The couple, Vicki and Steve Hart, became so frustrated by their lingering tenant that they eventually pushed him out and changed their locks. After trying to nudge Pruitt out of their home over the course of several months, the Harts finally told Pruitt in July that they had plans to rent his room to another tenant.

“The original arrangement was that he would be there living out of a suitcase … and it just kept going and going,” said one of the people with knowledge of the arrangement.

The condo, in which Pruitt rented a bedroom for $50 a night, has attracted the attention of the EPA’s inspector general, which said Thursday it was considering opening an investigation. The agency is already reviewing Pruitt’s taxpayer-funded first-class travel, his use of a special hiring authority to grant raises to aides and his spending on a soundproof phone booth for his office.
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Both people familiar with the condo arrangement described Pruitt as a difficult tenant who, intoxicated by his newfound power, paid little attention to the headaches he was causing others.

Prior to Pruitt’s arrival in Washington, Steve Hart — an energy lobbyist who, like Pruitt, is a native Oklahoman — had been a friend and supporter of the EPA administrator. He and his wife, a health care lobbyist, viewed the six-week living arrangement as a favor for a friend.

They drew up a lease running from February through April 1, 2017, said the people familiar with it, in order to make sure neither they nor Pruitt ran afoul of ethics rules, which prohibit political appointees from accepting gifts from lobbyists. Under the terms of that lease, Pruitt paid a cut rate of $50 per night to stay in the condominium.

That favor turned into a headache for the couple when Pruitt repeatedly asked to extend his lease. “There were gentle questions regarding, OK, when are you going to leave and what have you … and they even started sending him ads of places close by that he could rent,” said the first person.
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The Harts eventually told Pruitt, who had to be reminded repeatedly to pay his rent, that they had plans to rent the room to somebody else — and that he needed to find another place to live, according to the people familiar with events. They also informed him in early August that they were changing the locks on their door.

You want to know what the original title of this piece was? Check the URL- “Pruitt Was The Kato Kaelin Of Capitol Hill”.

He fits right in.

Trump bemoans how Pruitt is ‘TOTALLY under siege’
By CRISTIANO LIMA, Politico
04/06/2018

President Donald Trump on Friday voiced fresh support for his embattled Environmental Protection Agency chief, Scott Pruitt, saying he is doing a “great job,” while blasting reports that he has considering replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Pruitt.

“Do you believe that the Fake News Media is pushing hard on a story that I am going to replace A.G. Jeff Sessions with EPA Chief Scott Pruitt, who is doing a great job but is TOTALLY under siege?” the president wrote. “Do people really believe this stuff? So much of the media is dishonest and corrupt!”

According to a CNN report, Trump recently floated replacing Sessions atop the Justice Department with Pruitt, even as the EPA chief battles deepening ethics scandals over his lavish travel habits, security costs and coziness with lobbyists.
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Trump so far has publicly backed his EPA chief and has appeared to sympathize with the notion that political forces are undermining Pruitt. On Thursday, the president praised him for doing a “fantastic job” at the agency, telling reporters he still had confidence in the Cabinet member.

“I think he’s done a fantastic job. I think he’s done an incredible job,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “He’s been very courageous. It hasn’t been easy, but I think he’s done a fantastic job.”
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While liberals called for Pruitt’s firing, a group of prominent conservatives praised Trump for standing by the EPA leader.

“The days of a rogue, agenda driven EPA are over,” the group wrote. “Scott Pruitt is a bold, capable manager and is right for this job. His record shows you made the right choice picking him. We are certain he will guide EPA through the coming years of your Administration as a courageous and qualified administrator.”