A watchdog at the Environmental Protection Agency has opened an investigation into EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s frequent travel to Oklahoma, Bloomberg reports.
The probe will investigate why Pruitt spent 43 of the 92 days in March, April and May in his home state. Pruitt is the former Attorney General of Oklahoma, and some critics have openly wondered if Pruitt is using his high-profile spot in the Trump Administration to position himself for a Senate run in the Sooner State.
Pruitt’s airfare to and from Oklahoma in those three months totaled more than $12,000 for Pruitt himself. That figure doesn’t include air travel for staff.
Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project, lamented that it seemed like Pruitt was “more focused on cultivating his relationships with industry and conservative political organizations in his home state of Oklahoma than he is on protecting the environment.”