Political Scandals

Trump's New EPA Head Is In The Middle Of An Email Controversy

Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency, was ordered to release his emails with fossil fuel companies.

Trump's New EPA Head Is In The Middle Of An Email Controversy
Getty Images
SMS

The latest addition to President Donald Trump's Cabinet is facing an email controversy his first day on the job.

Former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is the new director of the Environmental Protection Agency.

The night before the Senate confirmed him, a judge ordered his office to release thousands of emails to and from fossil fuel companies.

An Oklahoma county district judge gave Pruitt until Tuesday to release more than 3,000 emails requested by the Center for Media and Democracy, a watchdog group.

Michael Flynn Resigns As National Security Adviser
Michael Flynn Resigns As National Security Adviser

Michael Flynn Resigns As National Security Adviser

In his resignation letter, Flynn admitted giving VP Mike Pence "incomplete information" about conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S.

LEARN MORE

Since 2014, CMD has filed more than eight requests under the Oklahoma Open Records Act to Pruitt's office.

But it only received 411 emails, some which were already publicly available.

Twenty-seven of those emails were part of a 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation that revealed Pruitt presented fracking legislation drafted by Devon Energy, an Oklahoma oil company Pruitt's office has ties to.

Democrats asked Pruitt to turn over the emails as part of his confirmation. Pruitt said no and asked the senators to file their own public records request.