WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.), top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Tom Carper (D-Del.), top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Inspector General Arthur Elkins to investigate whether EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt violated federal regulations when one of his top aides, Millan Hupp, conducted a real estate search on Mr. Pruitt’s behalf.
The senators point out that, according to interviews, congressional testimony, and emails obtained by the Environment and Public Works Committee Democratic staff, Administrator Pruitt received Ms. Hupp’s assistance with his housing search. This may violate rules preventing the solicitation or acceptance of a gift or services from a subordinate employee. In addition, if the search was conducted using official time while using government resources, Mr. Pruitt and/or Ms. Hupp could be in violation of other rules. Senators Carper and Whitehouse were first made aware of Ms. Hupp’s potential involvement back in April by former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff and Trump campaign staffer Kevin Chmielewski. A month later, during a Congressional hearing, Administrator Pruitt told Senator Udall that Ms. Hupp helped him with his housing search. He also claimed that he had not paid her for doing so, and that she had performed this work on personal time.
The senators write to Mr. Elkins, “There are several regulations designed to prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds and to prevent a supervisor from misusing the time of or accepting an improper gift from a subordinate employee, whose salary is paid by American taxpayers. Each of these regulations may have been violated by Mr. Pruitt or Ms. Hupp if the information obtained by our offices is accurate...”
This follows several unanswered requests for information on issues related to Administrator Pruitt’s exorbitant and unprecedented spending on travel and security, and other investigations into EPA ethics, personnel and policy matters.
The text of the letter can be found below and in PDF form HERE .
May 31, 2018
The Honorable Arthur A. Elkins, Jr.
Inspector General
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1301 Constitution Ave. NW, Rm 3102
Washington, DC 20460
Dear Mr. Elkins,
We write to request that you initiate an investigation to determine whether Administrator Pruitt violated federal regulations when he used a top aide, Ms. Millan Hupp, to conduct a real estate search on Mr. Pruitt’s behalf. According to interviews, Congressional testimony and emails (attached), Administrator Pruitt may have sought and/or accepted Ms. Hupp’s assistance with his housing search without compensating her. The housing search also appears to have been conducted using official time and resources.
There are several regulations designed to prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds and to prevent a supervisor from misusing the time of or accepting an improper gift from a subordinate employee, whose salary is paid by American taxpayers. Each of these regulations may have been violated by Mr. Pruitt or Ms. Hupp if the information obtained by our offices is accurate:
· 5 CFR § 2635.705
[1]
requires employees to use official time to perform their official duties, and prevents the encouragement, direction, or requesting of a subordinate to use official time to perform other activities.
· 5 CFR § 2635.702
[2]
prevents an employee from using his or her official position to coerce or induce anyone, including a subordinate, to provide the employee or the employee’s family or friends, with any benefit (financial or otherwise).
· 5 CFR § 2635.302
[3]
states that an employee cannot give a gift to an official superior, and that an employee cannot accept a gift from an employee receiving less pay, where the definition of “gift”’ includes services.
Senators Carper and Whitehouse’s staff were first told about Ms. Hupp’s efforts to assist Administrator Pruitt in early April by former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff and Trump campaign official Kevin Chmielewski, who described [4] Ms. Hupp as the Administrator’s personal real estate representative, spending weeks improperly using federal government resources and time to contact rental and seller’s agents, and touring numerous properties in which Administrator Pruitt might wish to reside.
Senator Udall then asked Administrator Pruitt about the matter directly during a Congressional hearing on May 16, 2018. [5] The Administrator confirmed that Ms. Hupp had helped him with his real estate search, saying that: “It’s my understanding that all activity there was on personal time” and indicating that he did not compensate Ms. Hupp for this work, implying that the assistance was a gift. Emails (attached) show that Ms. Hupp did at least some of this work using her epa.gov email address during the workday.
We request that you initiate an investigation in order to determine:
1. Whether Administrator Pruitt and/or Ms. Hupp violated regulations related to official use of time or the solicitation/acceptance of an improper gift or benefit when Ms. Hupp assisted the Administrator with his housing search.
2. Whether Administrator Pruitt has engaged in other similar potential violations of regulations involving tasks or services performed by, or benefits or gifts received from, Ms. Hupp or other subordinate EPA employees.
Thank you very much for your consideration of this important matter. Should you have any questions or concerns, please have your staff contact Michal Freedhoff on the Environment and Public Works Committee Democratic staff at 202-224-8832.
Sincerely yours,
###
[1]
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/2635.705
[2]
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/2635.702
[3]
https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/5/2635.302
[4]
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4436623-4-12-2018-Letter-to-Pruitt.html
[5]
http://www.cq.com/doc/congressionaltranscripts-5318394?0
