Scott Pruitt asked aide to set up call with Chick-fil-A about wife opening franchise
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s latest ethical debacle: He reportedly had an aide contact Chick-fil-A to set up a phone call with the company’s CEO to discuss a “potential business opportunity.”
That opportunity, per the Washington Post: How could his wife, Marlyn, become a franchisee for the fast food restaurant?
Pruitt, who has faced questions about whether he is leveraging his position for personal gain since becoming the head of EPA, never ended up speaking with CEO Dan Cathy about it. But Chick-fil-A confirmed to the Post that the EPA administrator had eventually spoken with its legal department.
“The subject of that phone call was an expression of interest in his wife becoming a Chick-fil-A franchisee,” the company told the Post. It also noted that Marlyn Pruitt started a franchisee application but didn’t finish it.
Additionally, Scott Pruitt reportedly approached the nonprofit organization Concordia on his wife’s behalf, the Post reported. The organization said it paid Marlyn Pruitt to help organize its annual conference.
Scott Pruitt’s efforts were revealed in emails released under the Freedom of Information Act request from the Sierra Club, the environmental group.
“Scott Pruitt’s abuse of the public trust and his corrupt attempts to leverage his position for personal gain have reached a disgraceful new low,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement. “This is the clearest example yet of Pruitt unethically and illegally seeking personal benefits because of the job Donald Trump has entrusted him with.”
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