Scott Pruitt, Trump’s pick to head the EPA, said during his Senate confirmation hearing that he has not helped to raise funds for the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) from Murray Energy, ExxonMobil or Devon Energy. As Martha Roberts at EDF wrote today, that is not the full truth:
“Pruitt’s answer dodges the important truth. Letters [PDF] obtained through an open records request show Pruitt’s chief of staff had, in fact, asked for help from Devon Energy to fund the Republican Attorneys General Association.
Crystal Drwenski wrote to Devon lobbyists asking them to intercede with the American Petroleum Institute – a trade organization for Devon Energy and the oil industry – to get API to buy a “membership,” a euphemism for giving a contribution in RAGA. So Pruitt had not solicited these funds, but his top operatives did.”
A review of tax filings by CMD shows that just a month after the request from Pruitt’s chief of staff, API gave the Republican State Leadership Committee (of which RAGA was a project in 2012) $50,000. Later that year API provided RSLC/RAGA with another $25,000.
Here are those filings
RSLC/RAGA Q1 2012
RSLC/RAGA Q4 2012
Leave a Reply