Executive Departments Part 2

[Howl]

RE:  VA nomination.  So we're back to square one, with Trump saying, "Hey, I know a guy!  He'd be perfect for the job!"
 

[GreyhoundFan]

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Is there any possibility that now that the cat is out of the doctor's bag, that there will be a thorough investigation -- with the necessary consequences -- into him? Is that up to Congress? The administration? The Navy’s Medical Inspector General?

 

In normal times (AKA pre-Dumpy), he would be investigated, and if the allegations were true, he would lose his license to practice medicine. The Navy would also investigate, and if the allegations were true, he would either be encouraged to retire or he would be given a dishonorable discharge. Unfortunately, I doubt either will happen.

[GreyhoundFan]

Sigh: "Mike Pompeo confirmed as secretary of state, in a move Republicans hope will rebuild morale at the State Department"

Spoiler

The Senate voted to confirm Mike Pompeo as secretary of state to replace Rex Tillerson, who had a testy relationship with President Trump before exiting the State Department last month.

Most Senate Democrats voted against Pompeo, believing his hawkish policy positions and controversial past statements about minority groups made him a poor choice to serve as the nation’s top diplomat. Republicans argued that his closeness to the president would help him positively influence foreign policy decisions, and that his reputation for good management as CIA director would help him rebuild morale at the State Department.

The confirmation enables Pompeo to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on Friday. Gina Haspel, who is Trump’s nominee to be the next CIA director, will take over from Pompeo as acting director of the agency.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

 

[Cartmann99]

On 4/26/2018 at 8:00 AM, Howl said:

RE:  VA nomination.  So we're back to square one, with Trump saying, "Hey, I know a guy!  He'd be perfect for the job!"
 

Remember Frank? The kid who wrote a letter asking if he could come and mow the grass at the White House last year? Trump's gonna ask him if he wants to take over running the VA as an after school job.

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

I mean, you'd think you'd want your prisoners reading books instead of some other stuff they could be doing. But you would be wrong.

[fraurosena]

Sigh. Yet another example of corruption and conflicts of interest.

Energy Sec. Rick Perry’s son owns an energy investment company. Is that a problem?

Quote

A private investment firm led by Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s son has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission that it’s seeking investors for a new energy fund, raising concerns about the potential for private businesses run by the offspring of high-ranking government officials to benefit from their parents’ policy decisions without the public being aware.

Griffin Perry is one of three owners of Dallas-based Grey Rock Energy Partners, which runs pooled investment funds that take stakes in active U.S. oil and natural gas drilling projects on behalf of wealthy investors who can meet a hefty minimum investment threshhold.

On April 19, the SEC published Grey Rock’s latest regulatory filing, which created Grey Rock Energy Fund III-B. It marked the first new fund the group is offering since Griffin Perry’s father became President Donald Trump’s energy secretary, and comes amid escalating concerns about conflicts of interest in the Trump administration.

Watchdog groups have two worries about situations like this. One is that existing investment rules allow for little public disclosure about private funds like Grey Rock, making possible conflicts of interest nearly impossible to spot. Neither the names of the investors nor their individual stakes are shared with the SEC, which requires just minimal information on the number of investors and sum of investment money under management.

“The lack of transparency in these types of funds greatly inhibits our ability to meaningfully identify and monitor conflicts of interest arising from his son's business,” said Virginia Canter, legal counsel on executive branch issues for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Conflicts can arise from both the underlying assets being managed by Grey Rock and the investors in Grey Rock.”

The other concern is that conflict-of-interest rules for politicians extend only to spouses and young kids, not grown ones.

“The criminal conflict-of-interest statute draws a bright-line distinction between adult child and minor child,” said Walter Shaub, who until February 2017 ran the federal Office of Government Ethics.

Many government ethics experts disagree with that, Shaub noted. “In the case of an adult federal employee and their adult child, reasonable minds may differ.” Griffin Perry is in his mid-30s.

Conflict of interest controversies have dogged other Trump cabinet members and even the president himself. Trump refused to divest himself of his global business empire when he took office, sparking complaints that he could be influenced by foreign governments and corporations that book extensive pricey stays in the Washington’s Trump International hotel, for instance.

In addition, Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was found to be enjoying low-cost rent from the wife of someone who lobbied EPA. And Jeff Miller, who ran Perry’s presidential campaign, drew headlines last year when he became a lobbyist on behalf of the company pushing the Dakota Access pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, and AECOM, which seeks Energy Department contracts at nuclear sites.

A review of Miller Strategies’ federal disclosure for last year shows it earned more than $2 million in lobbying income, the biggest chunk from oil and gas interests.

There’s no evidence of anything untoward in the younger Perry’s business, or that he is cashing in on his father’s post. But there’s also little way of knowing that. Pooled investment funds that seek exemption from disclosure are subject to regulatory audit at least once every seven years, so the government isn’t exactly looking in, and in any case those audits aren’t public.

Griffin Perry didn’t respond to requests for comment from McClatchy last year or this month.

Secretary Perry held stakes in his son’s funds but sold them to undisclosed investors when he assumed his cabinet post last year for somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000. He had to do that not because his son was involved but because the fund was focused on energy companies whose fortunes he could affect. If Perry had to take action on something that directly involved Grey Rock, as a former major shareholder he’d have to recuse himself from the matter — but only during his first two years in office.

Government standards of conduct generally discourage the mingling of personal and business relationships, especially with close relatives. But there are no prohibitions on the children of cabinet officials working in a field that their parent regulates.

Tagg Romney, son of GOP presidential primary hopeful in 2008 Mitt Romney, drew similar attention when in 2010 he created a private-equity firm and sought to lure former campaign donors to become his investors.

The first Grey Rock fund in 2013 sought to raise $200 million from investors. Filings with regulators for a second fund showed it raised $15 million in 2016, shortly before this father was tapped to become energy secretary.

Regulatory documents for the new fund, called Grey Rock Energy Fund III-B, do not disclose a total offering or an amount to be sold this year, noting each as indefinite. Griffin Perry is listed as the manager and ultimate general partner of the issuing fund.

With a publicly traded company such an ExxonMobil, holders of significant percentages of company stock are named in regulatory filings. Not so for private companies such as Grey Rock.

In its SEC submission made public Thursday, Grey Rock said only it was creating a fund and claimed an exemption from disclosing its investors.

Grey Rock’s undisclosed investors could be very wealthy individuals, pension funds or even university endowments. Regulatory documents for the initial funds show they required a minimum per-investor sum of $100,000 to enter the pooled investment. It’s unclear if this applies to the new fund.

One of Grey Rock’s few, publicly-declared investors is the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents. It decided on Sept. 15, 2016, to invest $30 million with Grey Rock as part of what it calls a long-term strategy, taking a stake in distressed oil and gas producers with the hope that prices will eventually rebound.

“We have a really diversified portfolio,” explained Rick Fitzgerald, the university’s assistant vice president for public affairs, pointing to a $10 billion endowment fund that is the 10th largest among U.S. universities.

According to someone familiar with Grey Rock’s funds, another investor is the University of Richmond, a private liberal arts school that does not have to report its endowment investments. The university’s investment manager didn’t return calls seeking comment.

Up until May 30, 2017, Grey Rock was what’s called an Exempt Reporting Adviser. It didn’t have to register with the SEC and had a lesser reporting burden. Then it changed its status to a SEC-registered “large advisory firm.”

That required it to disclose that it provided investment advice to between one and 10 clients, and declared regulatory assets under management of more than $203.5 million, invested through four funds.

Public records indicate that one of the early investors in Grey Rock was Reagan Reaud and his Austin, Texas-based firm Privateer Capital.

Reaud, son a prominent Houston trial lawyer and Democratic donor, declined to comment.

Grey Rock’s investments are far less risky than, say, wildcatting, where investor money is used to fund oil exploration. Instead it buys out existing stakes in drilling projects from investors who lack the capital that is needed for ongoing energy production.

“With a focus on the lower and mid-market of working interest and minerals, we aim to build positions with low break even costs and provide our investors with attractive risk adjusted returns,” Grey Rock said on its website.

Six years ago, when his father first ran for president, the younger Perry left his job pitching securities for Deutsche Bank to become a spokesman for his father’s presidential campaign to avoid running afoul of SEC regulations. Rick Perry, a former Texas governor, failed in White House bids in 2012 and 2016.

While there have been no complaints that the younger Perry’s fund seeks to cash in on his famous father’s name, that was the accusation in 2007 when, at age 23, he landed a job as a client advisor for Swiss investment bank UBS Securities. He was just 23 at the time and made news because UBS had consulted for Gov. Perry’s proposed sale of the Texas Lottery.

 

[AmazonGrace]

I don't mean to be a drag but I really think you guys oughta be on the streets protesting all day every day because everything is on a sliding slope to full on fascism.

[fraurosena]

Presiduncial praise is the kiss of death for your career.

Ronny Jackson won’t return to old job as Trump’s physician

Quote

White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his role as the president’s personal physician, according to two senior administration officials, after a string of allegations caused the Navy rear admiral to withdraw his nomination last week to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Sean Conley, a Navy officer who took over Jackson’s role as the president’s personal doctor last month, will continue in the role, the officials said.

Jackson bowed out last week after Montana Sen. Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, released a document summarizing allegations by current and former colleaguesthat Jackson overprescribed pills, drank on the job and created a hostile work environment. Jackson has denied the allegations and has returned to work in the White House Medical Unit.

President Donald Trump has continued defending Jackson, with whom he formed a tight personal bond.

On Saturday, Trump wrote on Twitter that Tester should resign, saying that the Secret Service had been unable to confirm any of the allegations against Jackson.

Tester is facing a tough reelection in November in a state that Trump won resoundingly in 2016.

The president also wrote that “Tester’s statements on Admiral Jackson” were as baseless as special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 election — a probe he derided as “A TOTAL WITCH HUNT!!!” earlier this month.

Jackson made a splash earlier this year when he held an extended news conference on Trump’s physical in which he claimed the president was one pound under the weight that would be considered obese and said that Trump has "great genes."

Trump’s decision to elevate Jackson to his Cabinet after dismissing former VA Secretary David Shulkin nonetheless took even senior-most White House aides by surprise. The president announced the move before the White House had a chance to do the sort of thorough vetting typically performed on Cabinet-level nominees.

Jackson’s nomination came on the heels of Trump’s decision to replace his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who was confirmed to his new role Thursday after an unexpectedly difficult vote in the Senate.

That battle, as well as efforts to confirm Pompeo’s CIA deputy Gina Haspel to succeed him at Langley, overshadowed the hunt for a VA chief.

The revelations about Jackson, who served as physician for both George W. Bush and Barack Obama, caught many in the West Wing by surprise.

Even before the Tester allegations surfaced, Republican and Democratic senators had voiced concern about the nomination because Jackson had no experience running an organization as complex as the VA — the second-largest federal agency, behind the military.

Trump had sent mixed signals about Jackson’s nomination when the allegations initially surfaced, telling reporters that he “personally” wouldn’t keep seeking confirmation in the same situation but that the decision was up to the doctor.

On Friday, speaking at a joint news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany at the White House, Trump had nothing but praise for Jackson, calling him "one of the finest men that I’ve ever met." 

 

[Howl]

First time seeing this angle on Scott Pruitt, but should have expected it, being that Pruitt is from Oklahoma. 

From Huff Po  The Other Reason Trump Hasn’t Fired Scott Pruitt: His Evangelical Christian Ties:  The president, wrestling with sex scandals, may want to keep his controversial-but-pious EPA administrator close.

2 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Presiduncial praise is the kiss of death for your career.

Ronny Jackson won’t return to old job as Trump’s physician

Yup, as Rick Wilson says, ETTD.  Everything Trump Touches Dies. Also thinking those first few days back at work will be awkward, like wondering who ratted him out.  Maybe he'll make an effort to be a nicer person and clean up his act; a lot of the behaviors that Tester uncovered are classic alcoholic manifestations. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘Who the hell is this person?’ Trump’s Mar-a-Lago pal stymies VA project"

Spoiler

A West Palm Beach doctor’s ties to Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago social circle have enabled him to hold up the biggest health information technology project in history — the transformation of the VA’s digital records system.

Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, who advises the president informally on vet issues, objected to the $16 billion Department of Veterans Affairs project because he doesn’t like the Cerner Corp. software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials. Cerner technology is a cornerstone of the VA project.

With the White House’s approval, Moskowitz has been on two or three monthly calls since November with the contracting team responsible for implementing the 10-year project, according to two former senior VA officials. Perlmutter, the Marvel Entertainment chairman, has also been on some of the calls, they said.

Many doctors and health IT experts are skeptical of the VA deal — especially after the problem-ridden implementation of a similar system at military hospitals. However, the involvement of Moskowitz and Perlmutter, which has not previously been reported, infuriated clinicians involved in the VA project, including former Secretary David Shulkin, according to one of the sources, a former senior VA official. Several officials said they thought contract negotiations had been wrapped up earlier this year and had no idea why the project was being held up.

“Shulkin would say, “Who the hell is this person who practices medicine in Florida and has never run a health care system?” said the source. He said Moskowitz’s involvement was one of the irritants in Shulkin’s dealings with other White House-appointed officials, which contributed to his being fired March 28.

The behind-the-scenes talks, where Moskowitz questioned various aspects of the program, illustrate the degree to which members of Trump’s circle have been able to influence government decisions, even about extraordinarily specialized subjects.

That involvement has stupified policymakers, especially since members of Trump’s family had pushed the opposite agenda: Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was instrumental in Shulkin’s June 2017 decision to choose the Cerner Corp. system with a no-bid contract. Shulkin announced the Cerner deal after several White House meetings with Kushner and aides from his Office of American Innovation.

But Moskowitz’s concerns effectively delayed the agreement for months, the sources said. VA spokesman Curt Cashour said Wednesday that finalizing a decision on the modernization of the VA’s health record system was a priority for acting Secretary Robert Wilkie.

Cashour didn’t respond specifically to questions about Moskowitz’s role. “Proper due diligence is required to ensure the best interests of veterans and taxpayers are served before the department enters into any agreement of this size and importance,” he said. “We are doing that now, and expect to make a final decision and corresponding announcement … in the coming weeks.”

Shulkin declined to comment for this story, as did Cerner Corp. Moskowitz and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.

Moskowitz, trained in medicine at the University of Miami, is a beloved West Palm Beach physician who sits on medical nonprofit boards with billionaires. He has invested in projects like an iPhone app to help patients find emergency care and a registry to track medical-device safety issues. Moskowitz also has “a great Rolodex,” in the words of one VA official, with many contacts at top-rank facilities such as the Mayo Clinic — where he sends his patients for specialty care.

In December 2016, he and Perlmutter helped broker a Mar-a-Lago meeting between Trump and leading health care executives from Mayo, the Johns Hopkins University Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic and other big systems.

Perlmutter, meanwhile, has been advising Trump on veterans affairs since before the inauguration. Some news reports say the Israeli-born businessman’s interest in veterans stems from serving in the Six-Day War of 1967.

While Moskowitz’s complaints about the software he’s used in Florida are not unusual, IT specialists at the VA felt that he was out of his league in evaluating the Cerner deal. After listening to his complaints, a team of investigators from VA’s Office of Information and Technology looked into the Cerner system that Moskowitz uses at two Tenet Corp. hospitals in Florida and found that it was out of date, two sources said.

Yet Moskowitz assumed that if his hospitals lacked a feature, it meant that Cerner could not produce it for the VA, they said.

‘”He’d be, like, ‘It doesn’t’ have voice-recognition software.’ Yes, Cerner does have voice-recognition software. But it isn’t installed in all Cerner hospitals.”

“This was part of the rub between Shulkin and the Trump people,” the first source said. “This guy’s whispering in Trump’s ear, ‘I know because I have to use it!’”

Shulkin’s June 2017 decision to jettison its homegrown digital records systems was controversial from the start. Many VA physicians rate the VA system highly, but Shulkin decided it would be best to use the same Cerner software system the military had chosen in 2015 so that records could be more easily shared.

The military has experienced numerous glitches since implementing the Cerner software at four Washington state clinics and hospitals last year, however. At a hearing Thursday, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said these problems have had a “significant morale impact on the practitioners in my state, not to mention serious concerns about putting patients’ lives at risk.”

Stacy Cummings, who runs the project for the military, testified that despite the challenges, the implementation is on track to finish nationwide in 2022. The VA is moving forward with its plan to use the same Cerner system “as far as I know,” she added.

Many health care and technology leaders view the combined VA-DoD Cerner project as a crucible for the future of computerized health care in the United States. Kushner hosted at least four White House meetings from December through February at which the project was central to discussions.

VA officials were aware of the potential pitfalls. Last fall, Shulkin postponed signing the final agreement while seeking assurance that the Cerner software could enable health data exchange with private-sector doctors who see veterans. But the contract appeared to be back on track in January after delivery of an independent report Shulkin commissioned to review the issue.

“I thought it was going to be done in a few days after that,’’ said a congressional source who tracks the deal. “Now it looks like there isn’t any tangible path forward.”

In a related move, an individual with ties to Trump-appointed VA officials said last week that an inspector-general’s report had been opened into the Cerner sole-source purchase.

Several IT experts consulted on this story said they thought the Cerner deal eventually would go through. Most said it would not be realistic to expect officials to renegotiate the contract or ditch it to stay with the VA’s internal software system.

“We just had to make the Mar-a-Lago guys comfortable with the deal,” said a current VA official. “They have someone’s ear. Power and influence are power and influence.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"CDC director asks that his $375,000 salary be cut after questions raised"

Spoiler

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked that his $375,000 salary be reduced after a top Democratic senator and others raised questions last week about his pay, which is almost twice what his predecessor earned and more than other past directors.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar agreed to Robert Redfield's request, an HHS spokesperson said Monday. Redfield told Azar that he did not want his compensation to become a distraction for his work at CDC, the spokesperson said. Officials provided no details on his new salary.

In a letter Friday to Azar, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) asked for the justification for offering Redfield “a salary significantly higher” than that of his predecessors and other leaders at HHS.

Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, noted news reports  last week that Redfield was being hired under a special salary program. Title 42, as it is known, was established by Congress to attract health scientists with rare and critical skills to government work. It grants federal agencies authority to offer salary and benefit packages that are competitive with those offered in the private sector and academia.

Murray wrote: “It is difficult to understand why someone with limited public health experience, particularly in a leadership role, is being disproportionately compensated for his work as compared to other accomplished scientists and public health leaders in comparable roles within the federal government.”

The 66-year-old Redfield, a former Army researcher and leading AIDS clinician and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, is well respected for his clinical work but has no experience running a governmental public health agency. He was named March 21 to head the CDC.

Redfield earned an annual salary of $645,676 at the University of Maryland. The upper end of the basic salary range for CDC director is about $190,000. Former director Tom Frieden, who has a medical degree and a master’s degree in public health and was the New York City health commissioner from 2002 to 2009, earned $219,700.

Redfield succeeds Brenda Fitzgerald, the former Georgia health commissioner who resigned Jan. 31 because of financial conflicts of interest. She served only half a year. Her annual pay rate was $197,300, the Associated Press reported, an increase from her $175,000 annual salary as the head of Georgia’s health department, according to state salary records.

Neither Frieden nor Fitzgerald was paid under the Title 42 program.

Redfield also earns more than his boss, Azar, whose annual compensation is $199,700, according to an HHS spokesman. Francis Collins, who is head of the National Institutes of Health, earns the same as Azar. Redfield’s pay is more than twice that of Scott Gottlieb, head of the Food and Drug Administration, who makes $155,500. For the jobs filled by Azar, Gottlieb and Collins, the salaries are set by law.

Caitlin Oakley, an HHS spokeswoman, said Friday that Redfield’s recruitment “was a rare opportunity to hire one of the world’s leading virologists.” In a statement, she noted his more than 30 years of experience as “a groundbreaking scientist, academic researcher, and clinician who has been a global leader in the fight against one of the most devastating infectious diseases of our time — HIV/AIDS.”

Oakley added: “Dr. Redfield is someone who understands this work from all of these perspectives and has firsthand knowledge of what researchers and practitioners need to keep the American people safe at home and abroad.”

In the 1980s and 1990s, Redfield supported policies that have raised deep concern among some AIDS advocates because they were not considered sound public health approaches to the epidemic. The critics believe those policies also stigmatized people who were infected and feared being fired — and losing their health insurance.

Redfield has resigned his positions at four groups, including a gene therapy biotechnology company and a conservative AIDS organization, to comply with government ethics rules, according to his financial disclosures.

Redfield has also divested stock holdings in two private biotechnology companies and is recusing himself from participating in matters involving the University of Maryland and seven organizations, according to his ethics agreement and a memorandum about his recusals provided to The Washington Post by an individual with knowledge of the plans.

His university compensation for the 15-month period from 2017 through this March was $757,100 plus a $70,000 bonus, according to his financial disclosure.

 

[Cartmann99]

7 hours ago, Howl said:

Yup, as Rick Wilson says, ETTD.  Everything Trump Touches Dies. Also thinking those first few days back at work will be awkward, like wondering who ratted him out.  Maybe he'll make an effort to be a nicer person and clean up his act; a lot of the behaviors that Tester uncovered are classic alcoholic manifestations.

 Trump fans on Twitter think the negative things reported about Jackson are lies, and they are very angry with Senator Tester's involvement in the situation. When I last looked in on them yesterday, they were furiously digging through Tester's past, and were also discussing which vile rumors work best to make someone lose an election. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump’s pick to lead ICE, who touted surge in immigration arrests, steps down"

Spoiler

Thomas Homan, the Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement official, announced Monday that he plans to step down from his job, six months after Trump nominated him to be director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Homan was named ICE’s acting director soon after Trump took office in 2017, and the tough-talking, barrel-chested former Border Patrol agent quickly became an unapologetic enthusiast for the administration’s more aggressive enforcement approach.

Under Homan, immigration arrests surged 40 percent after agents scrapped an Obama administration policy of targeting serious or violent criminal offenders in favor of casting a wider net. Homan said those living illegally in the United States “should be afraid” that his agents could be coming for them.

Pleased with Homan’s beat-cop demeanor, Trump picked him for the permanent ICE leadership role in November. But his nomination went nowhere and never came up for a vote on the Senate floor.

Homan ran ICE in a provisional capacity for so long the agency could no longer legally refer to him as its “Acting Director,” instead identifying him as its “Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director.”

In recent months Homan told friends and co-workers he felt increasingly sidelined by his boss, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, according to three people close to Homan. When Nielsen met with lawmakers earlier this year to negotiate an immigration deal, Homan was not invited to join the discussions, and his frustrations deepened.

Homan informed Nielsen in early February of his plans to retire, but she urged him to delay the announcement because there was already so much turnover at the highest levels of the Trump administration, a person with knowledge of their conversations said.

Homan’s retirement plans were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In a statement Monday, Homan said the decision was prompted by a desire to spend more time with his family.

“It has been the honor of my life to lead the men and women of ICE for more than a year,” his statement read. “The decision to leave federal service after more than 34 years is bittersweet, but my family has sacrificed a lot in order for me to serve and it’s time for me to focus on them.”

Homan had been the subject of several critical reports in recent weeks regarding ICE policies that include the forced separation of immigrant families in detention as well as the agency’s controversial arrest practices.

Homan’s statement said his agency has been repeatedly maligned by “unfair and false criticism from politicians and the media.”

In a letter Friday, nearly 20 Senate Democrats asked the Department of Homeland Security to provide documents explaining why Homan’s nomination had stalled, suggesting DHS didn’t want him to face scrutiny.

“We understand that the Trump Administration may be concerned about Mr. Homan answering questions under oath about his leadership of ICE, as well as the possibility that Mr. Homan’s nomination could be defeated in the Senate,” the letter said. “However, the Senate is an independent branch of government and has a responsibility under the Constitution to provide its advice and consent on this nomination.”

Homan will announce his retirement tonight at an award ceremony where he will receive a leadership award from the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association Foundation, his statement said.

Buh-bye

[AmazonGrace]

Because of course he did

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

Sweet dainty hooves of Rufus that's just egregious dirty politics.  You can't get more blatant than that.  And it's not like it's some back room deal; it's right up front on the EPA's front lawn. 

Going to lie down now on my GDMF (metaphorical) fainting couch because I've got a GDMF (metaphorical) headache. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course he did: "Lobbyist helped arrange Scott Pruitt’s $100,000 trip to Morocco"

Spoiler

MARRAKESH, Morocco — A controversial trip to Morocco by Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt last December was partly arranged by a longtime friend and lobbyist, who accompanied Pruitt and his entourage at multiple stops and served as an informal liaison at both official and social events during the visit.

Richard Smotkin, a former Comcast lobbyist who has known the EPA administrator for years, worked for months with Pruitt’s aides to hammer out logistics, according to four individuals familiar with those preparations. In April, Smotkin won a $40,000-a-month contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, with the Moroccan government to promote the kingdom’s cultural and economic interests. He recently registered as a foreign agent representing that government.

The four-day journey has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and the EPA inspector general, who is investigating its high costs and whether it adhered to the agency’s mission to “protect human health and the environment.”

Information obtained by The Washington Post shows the visit’s cost exceeded $100,000, more than twice what has been previously reported — including $16,217 for Pruitt’s Delta airfare and $494 for him to spend one night at a luxury hotel in Paris. He was accompanied by eight staffers and his round-the-clock security detail.

Smotkin’s role in arranging the whirlwind visit was highly unusual, ethics experts say, and raises many questions. Federal laws prohibit public officials from using government resources to financially benefit friends, relatives or other people with whom they have personal connections.

Smotkin did not return calls and emails seeking comment about his role in the trip or his relationship with Pruitt.

Pruitt faces multiple inquiries about his spending, ethics and management decisions, including his first-class travels and a $50-a-night condo rental from a Washington lobbyist. The Morocco trip has drawn special attention for its expense and purpose.

For months, many details about the journey have remained shrouded in secrecy, particularly the highly unusual role of Smotkin. These previously unreported details underscore lawmakers’ questions about whether the trip was in keeping with Pruitt’s role as the nation’s top environmental official.

The EPA has insisted that the trip was a legitimate effort to nail down details of a bilateral trade agreement, and the agency said Monday that Pruitt was unaware of the depth of Smotkin’s business relationship with the Moroccan government.

Ethics experts note that it is highly unusual for someone outside the U.S. government to help arrange such travel details for the head of a federal agency. Larry Noble, senior director and general counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, said Tuesday that the lobbyist’s involvement raises issues about whether Pruitt went to Morocco partly to bolster Smotkin’s standing within the kingdom.

“It shows, at the very least, a tremendous amount of sloppiness, and it raises ethical issues about the relationship between Smotkin and Pruitt,” Noble said. “If Pruitt did this to benefit Smotkin and did this to show that Smotkin has an in with the EPA administrator, then he’s using his official office to benefit a private person.”

Even as some aspects of the trip remain unclear, EPA officials confirmed that Smotkin brokered Pruitt’s initial meeting with Morocco’s ambassador in Washington, when she extended an invitation to travel to her country. Smotkin also accompanied Pruitt at multiple stops during his visit, the EPA and others confirmed.

Unlike most Cabinet-level travel, for which the agenda and policy outcomes are finalized weeks in advance, Pruitt’s office changed the schedule even while he was there, according to several individuals familiar with the visit. Though the EPA chief did visit a solar power research installation, he canceled a public appearance with an energy efficiency expert at an international conference in Marrakesh and instead met with the chairman of a massive phosphate exporter.

Smotkin attended both the green-energy park visit and the meeting with the phosphate executive. He also joined Pruitt for dinner on the EPA chief’s final night in Marrakesh, the EPA confirmed.

The reasons behind the trip came up again last week in Washington when Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) grilled Pruitt during the second of two contentious House hearings. She pressed him on why the EPA trumpeted the fact that part of his time was spent promoting the benefits of U.S. liquefied natural gas imports on Morocco’s economy.

“I can’t, for the life of me, imagine why an EPA administrator would be over there promoting energy sales,” Pingree said. “We have a Department of Energy. You should be thinking much more about some of the challenges with [liquefied natural gas], and why you would be on the other side.”

“There’s a free-trade agreement,” Pruitt replied. “The ambassador of Morocco actually met with me in advance of a free-trade agreement that was being negotiated and being completed in February of this year. We were there in December to negotiate the environmental chapter. That was the focus of the trip. There was a lot of reference made to [liquefied natural gas] only because the ambassador asked me to share that with the individuals when I was in country.”

The accord that Pruitt said was finalized in February actually remains unfinished. It is slated to be done this month.

This account of his Morocco visit is based on federal records, as well as interviews with government officials and members of the private sector in both countries. Many spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the questions now being raised. The Paris-based publication Africa Intelligence recently reported on some elements of the trip.

Multiple administration officials say Pruitt actually had raised the prospect of going to Morocco well before he received a formal invitation from its ambassador to the United States, Princess Lalla Joumala, during a meeting at EPA headquarters in late October — a meeting EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox acknowledged that Smotkin “assisted in arranging.”

Smotkin worked with two of Pruitt’s top aides, senior counsel Sarah Greenwalt and then-deputy advance director Millan Hupp, to line up specific aspects of the agenda, according to four individuals familiar with the process, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the agency’s internal workings.

For example, Smotkin discussed the prospect of Pruitt speaking at the Atlantic Dialogues, a conference in Marrakesh underwritten by the OCP Center, the think-tank arm of a major phosphate export firm in Morocco. Pruitt later canceled his appearance.

Some of this scheduling activity took place before the meeting with Morocco’s ambassador, these individuals said. At the time, Pruitt indicated he had been invited by Prince Moulay Rachid, the king’s brother. During the subsequent planning, individuals familiar with the discussions said, Pruitt repeatedly expressed interest in how the trip could help advance American natural gas interests.

Moroccan officials, who are hoping to establish a terminal that could ship imported liquefied natural gas to the country’s power plants, announced two weeks before Pruitt’s arrival that they would be soliciting bids sometime in 2018. That imported gas could help power a number of operations, including Morocco’s phosphate industry.

Asked about the visit, the Morocco Embassy in Washington released a statement Monday: “All meetings during this working visit were organized through official diplomatic channels with the objective to explore ways and means to deepen and broaden our bilateral work, namely in support of the Kingdom’s various initiatives to protect the environment, reduce Morocco’s carbon footprint and promote sustainable development.”

Separately, the EPA said in a statement that its “Office of International and Tribal Affairs organized and led the effort around Administrator Pruitt’s official meetings with the Moroccan government.”

Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said that Smotkin, who had served as the company’s liaison to state attorneys general, left that position in July. He has known Pruitt for roughly a decade, she said.

But documents released under the Freedom of Information Act reference repeated contact between the two men, including texts, during the early days of the Trump administration. Pruitt’s calendar also shows that they ate together just days after he was sworn into office, and officials familiar with his schedule say they dined together on multiple occasions last year.

Weeks after Pruitt’s confirmation, Smotkin also orchestrated for Pruitt to meet personally with former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper. In an exchange first reported by The HuffPost, Smotkin emailed one of the administrator’s schedulers to bring the two men together.

“Hi there. Been texting w the boss,” Smotkin wrote Sydney Hupp. “What times would be best on Monday to make this happen?”

“Hey Rick, you already spoke with Admin. Pruitt about this? Looking at Monday now … Thanks!” replied Hupp, whose sister Millan now directs scheduling and advance for EPA.

“Yep. We texted,” replied Smotkin. The meeting happened days later.

But that brief “meet and greet” at EPA headquarters pales in comparison to Pruitt’s trip to Morocco, notable in part for his costly premium-class airfare and his stays in at least two Sofitels, part of the French-owned luxury chain.

The actual journey was beset by logistical problems. His entourage’s flight from Washington Dulles Airport was plagued by weather delays, prompting him, his aides and security agents to miss their connecting flight in Paris. Pruitt and a handful of aides instead went into Paris to spend the night in a $494-a-night hotel.

Pruitt’s late arrival in Rabat caused him to miss a scheduled U.S. embassy briefing and roundtable there. The discussion focused on how American firms were pioneering technological innovation in Morocco and could benefit from an increased natural gas supply — an event Wilcox said that Smotkin also attended.

The administrator had a single meeting after arriving on Dec. 11, according to his public schedule, with the chief executive of the Moroccan Agency of Sustainable Energy. A spokesman for Mustapha Bakkoury said he was not available for an interview and did not reply to a request that he confirm the businessman met with Pruitt.

That evening, Pruitt and his staffers stayed at the Sofitel Rabat Jardin des Roses. His accompanying protective detail made an impression on some hotel staffers, with one employee recognizing Pruitt and an aide right away when shown photos last weekend.

“They were here in December,” she said. “They had lots of security with them. They were unapproachable.”

The EPA said in a statement that Smotkin “did not attend or participate in any official meetings with the Moroccan government,” but individuals familiar with the visit said he was a near-constant presence there. According to two individuals, he communicated with Isam Taib, political counselor to the Moroccan Embassy in Washington. Taib not only traveled back to his home country for Pruitt’s arrival, he also signed the official contract retaining Smotkin’s public relations services.

Top Moroccan government officials were unwilling to discuss their dealings with Pruitt.

On a visit last week to Rabat by a Washington Post reporter, several officials who met with him would not even acknowledge doing so — despite photos the EPA itself published from some of those sessions.

Pruitt’s public schedule lists back-to-back appointments on the morning of Dec. 12 with Mounia Boucetta, a top official in the foreign ministry; Aziz Rabbah, the minister of energy, mines and sustainable development; and Justice Minister Mohamed Aujjar.

Reached on his cellphone, Aujjar was asked about his meeting with Pruitt. He said “Who?” three times as the reporter repeated Pruitt’s name, then referred questions to his spokeswoman, who did not answer repeated requests for confirmation of the two men’s meeting.

Boucetta and her press spokesman did not respond to repeated requests for confirmation of her meeting with Pruitt. Rabbah’s spokeswoman initially said he would do an in-person interview, then a few hours later said he was no longer available. She later would not confirm that meeting because she said his schedule was “confidential.”

One of only two Moroccan officials to meet with Pruitt and acknowledge that to the Post was Said Mouline, chief executive of the Moroccan Agency for Energy Efficiency. He said officials at the OPC Policy Center asked him to meet with Pruitt. Smotkin also was listed as a participant at the event.

Mouline and Pruitt were originally scheduled to have an onstage discussion at the event, but it was canceled at the last minute for reasons Mouline said he did not know. Instead, he said, the two shared breakfast on Dec. 13 at the Es Saadi Marrakesh Resort in Marrakesh.

Pruitt and several aides listened quietly as he explained his agency’s work in promoting renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, Mouline recalled. He said he also spoke about climate change and how Africa is not a major producer of greenhouse gases but “is a continent that suffers a lot” from the warming of the planet.

On their way from Rabat to Marrakesh the previous day — a several-hour trip by van — Pruitt and his group had stopped in the town of Ben Guerir to visit the Green Energy Park. The space is an incubator for solar power and other renewable energy technologies founded by IRESEN, a Moroccan public research center, the energy ministry and OCP, the industrial giant that mines, refines and exports phosphates used in fertilizers all over the world.

Bakr Ikken, who runs the park and led Pruitt’s tour, said it lasted a little more than an hour and that Pruitt seemed fully engaged in issues from electric cars to new energy-storage technologies. Ikken said that he discussed Morocco’s efforts to improve natural gas production as part of his presentation but that Pruitt didn’t raise the U.S. gas industry.

“I had a real positive feeling about him,” Ikken said. “Maybe he was impressed by what we are doing.”

Pruitt and his aides also visited the adjacent Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, a research institution that was opened by King Mohammed VI last year and is largely supported by OCP and, like the green park, built on land owned by the company. There, Pruitt met with Chief Executive Mostafa Terrab. Again, Smotkin was there, according to two people familiar with the meeting.

“OCP is often invited to be present during major events or visits of important dignitaries to the University and Green Energy Park, and it is in this context that Mr. Terrab greeted Administrator Pruitt,” a company statement said.

According to an OCP official, Pruitt heard a presentation about the university’s role in creating sustainable energy and development for Morocco and the rest of Africa. This official said the company’s commercial interests were not part of the presentation, though one individual familiar with the session said OCP officials spoke extensively about its role as a phosphate producer and exporter.

Pruitt’s trip barely registered in the local media in Morocco and went virtually unmentioned by the state-run media agency, perhaps because the EPA gave no notice he was coming — a typical practice since he took office.

By midmorning on Dec. 13, Pruitt and his entourage boarded a plane in Marrakesh for the flight home, connecting in Amsterdam and New York, according to his public schedule.

It was after 10:30 p.m. when Pruitt finally arrived back in Washington. Twelve hours later he was due at the White House to participate in a press roundtable touting President Trump’s accomplishments for the year.

 

[CTRLZero]

8 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

“I can’t, for the life of me, imagine why an EPA administrator would be over there promoting energy sales,” Pingree said. “We have a Department of Energy. You should be thinking much more about some of the challenges with [liquefied natural gas], and why you would be on the other side.”

 

8 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

We were there in December to negotiate the environmental chapter.

With Smotkin.  Traveling like royalty.  Uh huh.  Why is Pruitt still there?  Craziness.

[GreyhoundFan]

Aaaand, another one bites the dust: "A top aide to EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns amid scrutiny"

Spoiler

Albert ‘Kell’ Kelly, a top aide to Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt, resigned Tuesday amid scrutiny of his financial dealings with Pruitt that also drew attention to his lifetime ban from banking.

After spending most of his career as a banker in Oklahoma, Kelly joined Pruitt at EPA a year ago to revitalize the agency’s cleanup of toxic sites. Around the same time, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation fined him $125,000 for “entering into an agreement pertaining to a loan” without FDIC approval. Soon after he was banned from banking altogether.

Kelly gave no reason for his departure and did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.

Two individuals briefed on the decision, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter, said Kelly was tired of coming under criticism for the FDIC ban and didn’t need the job. One noted that Pruitt did not come out in strong defense of Kelly during his testimony before the House Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee last week.

Pruitt praised Kelly in a statement Tuesday, saying that he has made a “tremendous impact” on the agency’s Superfund program, which aims to clean up hundreds of the nation’s most toxic sites. Kelly helmed a task force that issued recommendations to streamline and speed up those efforts, and he has been instrumental in helping make progress at Superfund sites around the country that had previously languished for years, Pruitt said.

“Kell Kelly’s service at EPA will be sorely missed,” Pruitt wrote.

The resignation comes as Pruitt faces multiple investigations by the agency’s inspector general. He is under scrutiny for ethics and spending issues, including renting a D.C. condo from a lobbyist for below market rate, installing a costly soundproof phone booth and spending millions on his own personal security.

Pruitt and Kelly are fellow Oklahomans and old friends, and Kelly has been a key adviser to Pruitt as the administrator has weathered growing scrutiny. The bank that Kelly led, SpiritBank, loaned money to Pruitt on several occasions, including to buy a home and a stake in a minor league baseball team, according to media reports.

While some viewed Kelly with skepticism when he first arrived at EPA, given his lack of experience in the area, many career officials, residents living near Superfund sites and companies involved in the program came to view him as a competent administrator who solicited input from all sides.

Kelly traveled the country visiting Superfund sites in an effort to identify ways to speed cleanups, some of which have languished for decades. He handed out his email and cellphone to residents in local communities, some of whom described him as one of the more responsive government officials they had dealt with in years.

I hope Pruitt is next.

[AmazonGrace]

That's probably why they hired her to begin with

[AmazonGrace]

Make Attorneys Great Again

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

How many investigations are there into Pruitt's shenanigans? 11? Will this become number 12? How many will it take for him to finally be ousted? 

Serious question though. Can departmental secretaries only be fired by the president, or can Congress fire them too?

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Make Attorneys Great Again

This is Pruitt's house back in Oklahoma.

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060078805

I'd personally downsize to a more modest home before I started asking people to donate to my Jesus Patriot Liberty Freedom Family Values slush legal defense fund.

Be sure to tune in next week to learn about how Pruitt spent your tax dollars on a dozen clown costumes, online gambling, 12,000 rolls of aluminum foil, and 200 pounds of Gryuere cheese!