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Sarbanes Calls Out EPA Administrator Pruitt’s Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Lapses [Video]

December 7, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Subcommittee on Environment hearing today, Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) questioned EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt about his secret meetings with industry polluters. Below is a written excerpt from their exchange.

Sarbanes: "On April 26, you met with Southern Power, one of the nation's largest coal-burning utilities, and had dinner with Alliance Resource Partners, a major coal mining company. Is that also correct?"

Pruitt: "If that's what the calendar reflects."

Sarbanes: "I think that's what the calendar shows. Since then, the EPA has announced that the agency will consider rolling back rules that protect mining communities from toxic coal ash. An Alliance Resource Partners CEO donated almost $2 million to elect the President."

"I'm not mentioning this stuff as a gotcha thing," Sarbanes continued. "I'm mentioning it because it really makes a lot of Americans anxious when you consider the conflict of interest that this suggests."

See below for video of the full exchange.

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