The Energy 202: Pruitt accused by watchdog of breaking law by bashing Paris deal
Source: Washington Post
The Energy 202: Pruitt accused by watchdog of breaking law by bashing Paris deal
By Dino Grandoni July 21 at 9:33 AM
A Democratic watchdog group is accusing President Trump's top environmental law enforcer of misusing funds to rail against the Paris climate agreement.
In a letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) sent Thursday, the American Democracy Legal Fund said Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, one of the Trump administration's most outspoken critics of the climate deal, violated an obscure grassroots-lobbying law called the Antideficiency Act, which bars federal agencies from spending federal money before it has been appropriated by Congress (or in excess of such funds).
Current law prohibits federal employees from lobbying members of the public to support or oppose legislation before Congress. The watchdog group zeroed in on a meeting Pruitt had in April with the National Mining Association, a lobbying group in Washington for the mining industry, in which Pruitt reportedly "bashed" the Paris deal, according to media reports at the time.
"Pruitts staff also urged lawmakers and conservative groups to publicly criticize the agreement, sources familiar with the issue told Politico, which had the effect of increasing public pressure on Trump," Politico reported of the April meeting.
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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2017/07/21/the-energy-202-pruitt-accused-by-watchdog-of-breaking-law-by-bashing-paris-deal/5970e8f530fb0436795431cd/