Thread by @EricLiptonNYT

Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, Rented Residence From Wife of Energy Lobbyist @bradplumer nyti.ms/2uBSIes

So we pulled together a few of the key documents related to this story, which was broken by ABC News and congrats to them for cracking this open. Here are those documents assembled in one place. documentcloud.org/documents/4427…

Here Pruitt is meeting with a lobbyist from Williams & Jensen, at the same time as he is living in condo for $50 a night owned by spouse of chairman of the firm, to discuss matters related to Oklahoma Gas & Electric, a lobbying client of Williams & Jensen.

So the lobbying firm is meeting with him by day--pressing him for some kind of official action or at least consideration of their agenda--and then the spouse of the firm chairman is giving him what clearly looks like a below market rent by night.

But the ties between J. Steven Hart, the chairman of William & Jensen go back a while. Here is a fund raising event from 2014, when Pruitt was Oklahoma Attorney General, that Hart organized for Pruitt. So they have financial ties dating back a while.

But there is more. When Pruitt was OK Attorney General, he sued the EPA 14 times. See this for a look at those 14 lawsuits. One of them has a tie in here I will explain. documentcloud.org/documents/3290…

One of these 14 lawsuits was filed in an alliance with a William & Jensen client. As Pruitt sued the EPA to try to block enforcement of the so-called Regional Haze rule that was going to force two coal-burning plants in Oklahoma to clean up emissions.

But there is more still. Williams & Jensen also represented in 2017 a Texas-based company that is seeking to natural gas exports. J. Steven Hart, the spouse of Mr. Pruitt's landlord, is listed here as among the lobbyists for Cheniere Energy.

And where does Pruitt travel (at US taxpayer expense) in late 2017? To Morocco to promote the export of US natural gas to Morocco. A nation listed on Cheniere's application for an export permit.

None of this presents evidence that Pruitt has done anything explicit to benefit, as a result of his condo deal, clients of Williams & Jensen. But deciding to live in a condo owned by wife of an energy lobbyist as his firm lobbies the EPA will create such questions.

Final document for night is this one that @KevinBogardus secured. A classic (at least for me) in history of such ethics guidance letters-issued after ABC News breaks story re Pruitt's condo rented from wife of energy lobbyist. It defends Pruitt. But leaves lots of open questions

So it has been more than a year since this lease has started. And only now EPA is issuing a formal ethics letter that concludes this lease was completely kosher--after ABC News breaks this story? Why now?

Here again is our story on this matter, written by @bradplumer with a bit of help from me and @LFFriedman nytimes.com/2018/03/30/cli…