Thread by @weareoversight

Trips to swing states ahead of the 2020 election by former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler and former Sec. of Labor Scalia cost taxpayers nearly $60,000 for staff travel and expenses, according to new records we obtained.
americanoversight.org/records-show-n…

Wheeler took highly publicized trips to Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina in October 2020, with public engagements on a variety of issues ranging from agricultural concerns to deregulating high-powered boat engines.

Such government-funded trips by Trump cabinet officials to key states in the run-up to Election Day raised significant questions about violations of the Hatch Act, the law that bans officials from using government resources to influence elections.
buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrah…

Although the trips were ostensibly to conduct official business, their timing (and to locations critical to Trump’s campaign) appeared aimed at buoying support for the president and his reelection bid.

The EPA spent at least $53,034.66 on travel expenditures for staff supporting Wheeler in such trips — not even including Wheeler’s own travel costs — according to our review of documents obtained released in response to our FOIA requests.

These are the first documents we’ve received in response to a series of FOIA requests submitted to provide transparency into potential conflict-of-interest concerns raised by the travel patterns of senior Trump officials in the run-up to the election.
americanoversight.org/documents?fwp_…