Pruitt Among Few To Clear Ethics Requirements

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt is among the few nominees for the incoming presidential administration to complete and clear ethics and disclosure requirements, according to reports and documents from the Office of Governmental Ethics (OGE).

Records filed at the beginning of the month show a written statement and a financial history disclosure handed over Jan. 3 and 4, respectively. He was cleared by OGE officials Jan. 4. Pruitt was nominated to be the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency by President-elect Donald Trump in November. 

According to the letter sent to the OGE, Pruitt has resigned from his position as chairman of the Republican legal organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which has long opposed the EPA and the Dodd-Frank banking reform. 

He also stated he plans to resign from his position as the Oklahoma Attorney General and his position with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Windows Ministry Incorporated, should he be confirmed. He would also be subject to a “1-year covered relationship” with the state and those organizations in which he would not be allowed to be involved with them.

Pruitt’s financial disclosure shows more than a dozen accounts totaling up to nearly $560,000, including his state salary and benefits package. It also shows his Tulsa home valued at up to $1 million. Pruitt stated in the disclosure neither he nor the State of Oklahoma will contribute to his retirement fund after his resignation.

According to a News 9/News On 6 source, Pruitt was visiting his family in Kentucky over the New Year holiday but has since been in Washington, D.C., preparing for his confirmation hearing. He will go before the Environment and Public Works Committee, formerly chaired by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma.

A date for his hearing has not been set, but a Senate staffer close to the committee said it is supposed to be held prior to the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20. 

Pruitt has not made a public comment about his nomination. He has only released a statement after meeting with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, last week. The Trump transition team said he would be unavailable to speak before his hearing.