Trey Gowdy demands answers for ‘differing accounts’ on Scott Pruitt allegations

Michael Bastasch, DCNF

UNITED STATES - JANUARY 6 - House Benghazi Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C. speaks to the media on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016 before the start of the committee's closed-door hearing. In an effort to investigate the deadly 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, the House committee is interviewing former CIA director David Petraeus. (Photo By Al Drago/CQ Roll Call) — (Photo By Al Drago/CQ Roll Call)

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairman Trey Gowdy wants an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) whistleblower to reconcile “differing accounts” of his allegations against Administrator Scott Pruitt.

Rep. Gowdy sent a letter to former EPA staffer Kevin Chmielewski, asking the former Trump campaign official to testify before the committee to reconcile conflicting accounts of claims made against his former boss.

“There remain numerous questions of fact concerning these matters,” Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican, wrote to Chmielewski.

Gowdy said committee staff had interviewed “numerous” EPA officials, asking them about allegations Chmielewski made against Pruitt. In April, Chmielewski gave Democratic lawmakers a list accusations against Pruitt, from overspending to ethical lapses.

Yet, at least some of Chmielewski’s claims have been challenged by other EPA officials and in media reports.

For example, Chmielewski told Democrats that former head of Pruitt’s security detail Nino Perrotta entered into “a $30,000 contract with private Italian security personnel” ahead of Pruitt’s attendance of a G7 summit in Italy.

Perrotta denied it and sources familiar with the matter pointed out that Pruitt’s head of security did not have the authority to unilaterally enter into such a contract.

The Washington Free Beacon also reported Chmielewski inflated his military service on “the resume he used to secure positions in the Trump administration.” His resume claims he served in the U.S. Coast Guard for three years, but a Coast Guard spokeswoman said he actually served for less than one year.

“To examine these facts, and particularly to reconcile what has amounted to differing accounts, we must take your testimony,” Gowdy wrote to Chmielewski.

Gowdy’s investigation into Pruitt’s actions is just one of several ongoing in Congress and by federal investigators. Democrats, environmentalists and some conservative pundits have called on Pruitt to resign.

President Donald Trump, however, has praised Pruitt’s performance at EPA, saying he’s done a good job rolling back Obama-era regulations and putting the administration’s policies in place.

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