Trump EPA administrator Scott Pruitt may be in hot water again, the Washington Post reports. And yes, this is a different scandal than all those other ones: the Post reports that the details of Pruitt's trip to Morocco last December, already being looked upon with suspicion by watchdogs and lawmakers, were arranged in significant part by a lobbyist working for the Moroccan government.
Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist who has known the EPA administrator for years, worked with Pruitt’s aides to hammer out logistics, according to four individuals familiar with those preparations. In April, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the Moroccan government to promote the kingdom’s cultural and economic interests. He recently registered as a foreign agent representing that government. [...]
Information obtained by The Washington Post shows the visit’s cost exceeded $100,000, more than twice what has been previously reported — including $16,217 for Pruitt’s Delta airfare and $494 for him to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris. He was accompanied by eight staffers and his round-the-clock security detail.
The Morocco trip was already being probed because Pruitt's office has attempted to stonewall reporters asking about his unusual actions there—his office heralded the trip as promoting the U.S. natural gas industry and a potential free-trade agreement, neither of which would seem to fit squarely within EPA purview. But Smotkin's involvement raises additional questions as well:
Ethics experts note that it is highly unusual for someone outside the U.S. government to help arrange such travel details for the head of a federal agency. Larry Noble, senior director and general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, said Tuesday that the lobbyist’s involvement raises issues about whether Pruitt went to Morocco partly to bolster Smotkin’s standing within the kingdom.
Yes, it does. Among other things.