"There have been instances, unfortunately, during my time as administrator, as I've flown and spent time, of interaction that's not been the best," Pruitt told WMUR TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. The questions add to growing scrutiny over the high-flying travel expenses of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, five months after former HHS Secretary Tom Price stepped down following POLITICO’s reporting on his use of more than $1 million in taxpayers’ money for trips on private jets and government planes. But Norm Eisen, the former top ethics lawyer for the Obama administration and a critic of Trump, said Pruitt should not be allowed to routinely ignore regulations that are meant to ensure government officials do not waste taxpayer dollars. — Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said security decisions made by others have dictated he fly first class or on military jets at taxpayer expense.“Unfortunately, ... we’ve had some incidents on travel dating back to when I first started serving in the March-April timeframe,” Pruitt said during an interview at the New Hampshire Union Leader on Tuesday.“We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment,” said Pruitt, who confirmed he flew first class from the Washington area to Boston to reach New Hampshire.“We’ve reached the point where there’s not much civility in the marketplace and it’s created, you know, it’s created some issues and the (security) detail, the level of protection is determined by the level of threat.” The Washington Post reported that taxpayers funded at least $90,000 for Pruitt and his top aides to fly during one stretch last June. A report released Wednesday by the inspector general at the Department of Veterans Affairs found that Secretary David Shulkin and his staff made "false representations" to justify his wife accompanying him at taxpayer expense on an 11-day European trip that mixed business and sightseeing. EPA's Office of Inspector General, which investigates threats against Pruitt, said last fall that he received up to five times as many threats as his immediate predecessor, McCarthy. EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not immediately respond Wednesday to questions about whether Pruitt had been granted similar waivers allowing him to fly premium class or about the past security incidents to which Pruitt referred. While flying first class could allow Pruitt access to special lounges where there are fewer passengers waiting for a plane, former federal agency staffers say VIPs are often offered that option even with just a coach ticket.
– Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt says he needs to fly first-class because of a toxic environment—the political one. He says he wasn't involved in the decision to put him in first class when he travels, which he says was made after some unpleasant interactions with travelers opposed to administration policies. "We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment," he tells the New Hampshire Union Leader. He says his security team and the administration "place me on the plane where they think [it's] best from a safety perspective." He was speaking days after the Washington Post reported that Pruitt, whose predecessors mostly flew coach, has racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in first-class and military jet travel costs, including $90,000 during a busy stretch in early June. Pruitt's government-funded travel is being reviewed by the EPA's internal watchdog, which says the results of its investigation should be released by the summer, the AP reports. Earlier this week, EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox claimed Pruitt had a "blanket waiver" allowing him to choose first class whenever he travels, but he retracted the statement after Politico pointed out that federal rules require a waiver for every taxpayer-funded first-class trip when it's for security reasons. Wilcox, whose earlier statement was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans, now says Pruitt "submits a waiver to fly in either first or business class" for every trip he makes. (Pruitt is the first EPA chief to be accompanied by a 24-hour security detail.)