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[ad_1] Staff departures from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have become so common that they rarely make news anymore — since Administrator Scott Pruitt took control of the EPA in 2017, more than 700 employees have left the agency. But this week, as federal investigations surrounding Pruitt’s ethical scandals continue to mount, four departures in particular made headlines, as officials with close ties to the administrator announced they would be moving on from the agency. The high-profile departures come at a time when Pruitt appears to be fighting for his job in both public and private arenas. The departures are especially notable because three of the top officials appear — at least in some way — connected to one of the ethical scandals that have dogged Pruitt over the last month. “Administrator Pruitt has repeatedly and unapologetically blamed his own staff for the crisis of leadership that he has created at EPA,” Rep. Paul Tonko (D-NY), the ranking Democratic lawmake...

[ad_1] Even before he was sworn in as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt was demonstrating the questionable judgment that has marked his 15-month tenure as head of the agency. Working with his soon-to-be chief of staff, Pruitt explored the possibility of establishing an EPA office in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. If successful, Pruitt could have stayed in Tulsa to conduct much of his work. As it turned out, Pruitt was unable to get the office set up in 2017 and has since ended up traveling back to Tulsa on most weekends. In January 2017, Ryan Jackson, who was working on the staff of Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) at the time, directed EPA staff to identify proposed new office space in Tulsa that included a conference room, secure parking, and secure communications space, according to information in a letter sent to Pruitt on Tuesday by three Democratic members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. On February 17, 2017,  Pruitt was sw...