Pruitt Denies Involvement in Pay Raises in Tense Clash With Fox News’ Ed Henry: ‘My Staff Did’ It

Fox News’ Ed Henry grilled EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on his involvement with pay raises two of his staffers – who happened to be his friends from Oklahoma – received (or were about to receive, as Pruitt claims) in recent days.

“If you’re committed to the Trump agenda, why did you go around the president and the White House to give pay raises to two staffers?” Henry asked, and was about to follow up with more when Pruitt stopped him.

“I did not,” he said. “My staff did. I found out about that yesterday and I changed it.”

“I issued a statement yesterday walking back those pay raises that should not have been done,” he continued.

“Is someone going to be fired for that?” Henry quickly followed up.

“There will be some accountability,” Pruitt replied.

“A career person or a political person?” Henry said, to which Pruitt responded, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Henry repeated incredulously. “You run the agency. You don’t know who did this?”

“I found out about this yesterday and I corrected the action,” Pruitt repeated.

The staffers were set to receive a $28,000 pay raise and a $56,000 pay raise. Henry pointed out that The Atlantic filed a formal application for these raises and that when the White House denied them, he found a provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act that allowed him to hire up to 30 people and for the staffers to receive this money.

(Is that a bullshit alarm I’m hearing above Pruitt’s head?)

Watch above, via Fox News.

[image via screengrab]

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