Trump’s EPA chief was just publicly humiliated by a reporter over his “death threats” allegations

If you and your friends ever idly joked about all the ridiculous things that you would do if you ever got into power, it couldn’t be worse than what President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt is actually doing.

From running up enormous taxpayer bills flying first class to using police sirens to dodge traffic to buying $70,000 bulletproof desks, Pruitt has been remarkably flagrant – not to mention unrepentant – in the abuse of his office for his own personal agenda.

He has tried to justify his $3 million security bill by crying crocodile tears about all the death threats he’s been receiving – but it turns out there’s no truth to that either.

AP: “A nationwide search of state and federal court records by the AP found no case where anyone has been arrested or charged with threatening Pruitt.”

— Margot Williams (@MargotWilliams) April 8, 2018

I had filed a #FOIA with EPA for any records of death threats made against Scott Pruitt.

EPA said it had zero recorss. https://t.co/XsCctrPYi7

— Jason Leopold (@JasonLeopold) April 8, 2018

Buzzfeed reporter Jason Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the EPA, who responded saying that they had “no records of any death threats” made against Pruitt.

So either the paranoid and security-obsessed Pruitt is keeping the threats to himself – or he’s just making them up to excuse his absurd spending levels.

He’s emboldened by the knowledge that Trump has decided to side with him against Chief of Staff John Kelly, who is disgusted with Pruitt’s endless scandals and wants him fired. But as anybody who has ever worked for Donald Trump knows, the Donald’s loyalty only extends as far as your personal utility to him.

While Pruitt may be a useful pawn in the power struggle against John Kelly, who has incurred the president’s ire over his refusal to let Trump do whatever the hell he wants, he’s on very thin ice. Public outcry has proven to be a somewhat effective tool for keeping the hypersensitive President in check, and fury is already at a boiling point over Pruitt’s excesses.

That outcry is only going to grow once the word gets out that Pruitt’s been lying about the death threats the whole time.