Fox News Disciplines Staffers Who Gave Scripts to EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Before Interview

Fox News said it is disciplining the staffers involved in feeding scripts and questions to former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt before his interviews on morning show Fox & Friends.

The action taken in response to the controversy — unveiled thanks to emails made public by a FOIA request — was first reported by the Associated Press and confirmed by Mediaite.

Fox News did not reveal who was being disciplined nor what measures were being taken.

The Daily Beast first reported Tuesday morning on the coordination between Pruitt’s team and Fox & Friends producers. Emails showed that Fox News staffers allowed Pruitt — who who left the Trump administration in July amid a torrent of ethics investigations — to choose the topics for his interviews, review questions and even scripts in advance.

Fox News said in response to the story: “This is not standard practice whatsoever and the matter is being addressed internally with those involved.”

In an email chain ahead of a May 2017 appearance on Fox News by Pruitt, his spokesperson corresponded with Fox & Friends producers Andrew Murry and Diana Aloi. Aloi said she would send “pre-interview questions on the agreed upon topic, the new direction of the EPA, and helping communities that were poorly served by the last administration.”

Aloi then sent the script of the segment opener to Pruitt’s team for approval. In Pruitt’s Fox & Friends hit the next day, host Brian Kilmeade read from the script, as it had been approved.

[Featured image via screengrab]