Scott Pruitt is in Morocco this week to promote exports of US natural gas. This is EXTRAORDINARY on several counts. 
1) The EPA administrator is effectively a member of the president's cabinet. Yet team Pruitt did not tell beat reporters who cover him in advance that he was traveling to northern Africa.
2) The American public, and news media, have a right to know the whereabouts of cabinet officials when they r conducting US business and the media has a right to be present, at least at public events. Here is excerpt from typical DOJ advance notice. We get these weekly.
3) But EPA's general policy is to disclose Mr. Pruitt's schedule only AFTER the week is over. That is very odd. It is why we reporters write stories like this. suggesting Pruitt is being secretive nytimes.com/2017/08/11/us/…
4) Furthermore, I sort of wonder: what role does the EPA's Pruitt have in pushing a foreign nation on the "potential benefit of liquefied natural gas imports" from the United States? Where is that in EPA mission statement? epa.gov/aboutepa/our-m…
5) Scott Pruitt may be a big fan of the news media coverage he gets. But he is a public official. Disclosing your planned whereabouts in advance to reporters and submitting yourself to public scrutiny is part of that job.
Yes, the EPA did put out a statement on Monday, now on its website, disclosing that he was in Morocco. But that was AFTER HE GOT THERE. Meaning any coverage by EPA reporters was impossible. These are government issued photos. More like propaganda (sorry) than public access.
I don't say this to be disrespectful to Scott Pruitt or the EPA public affairs team. The public affairs shop, in recent weeks, has in recent weeks been more responsive (at least with me). I just think these kind of practices need to change.
Should have been "may not be a big fan"
