For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Contact: press@prwatch.o
OKLAHOMA AG RELEASES 7,564 PAGES IN RESPONSE TO CMD REQUEST
Under court order, Oklahoma Attorney General’s office releases previously withheld emails and holds back others; more emails expected on February 27
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — As a result of an Open Records Act request and lawsuit filed by the Center for Media and Democracy, on Tuesday night the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office released a batch of more than 7,500 pages of emails and other records it withheld prior to Scott Pruitt’s nomination as EPA Administrator last Friday.
The AG’s office has withheld an undetermined number of additional documents as exempted or privileged and submitted them to the Judge Aletia Haynes Timmons for review. A number of other documents were redacted, and CMD will be asking for the court to review those as well. On February 27, the AG’s office has been ordered to deliver records related to five outstanding requests by CMD.
“Despite repeated attempts by Pruitt and the Oklahoma AG’s office to stonewall CMD and the public, we’ve won a major breakthrough in obtaining access to public records that shine a light on Pruitt’s emails with polluters and their proxies,” said Nick Surgey, research director at the Center for Media and Democracy. “The newly released emails reveal a close and friendly relationship between Scott Pruitt’s office and the fossil fuel industry, with frequent meetings, calls, dinners and other events. And our work doesn’t stop here – we will keep fighting until all of the public records involving Pruitt’s dealings with energy corporations are released – both those for which his office is now asserting some sort of privilege against public disclosure and the documents relevant to our eight other Open Records Act requests.”
“There is no valid legal justification for the emails we received last night not being released prior to Pruitt’s confirmation vote other than to evade public scrutiny,” said Arn Pearson, general counsel for CMD. “There are hundreds of emails between the AG’s office, Devon Energy, and other polluters that Senators should have been permitted to review prior to their vote to assess Pruitt’s ties to the fossil fuel industry.”
Among the documents released late yesterday, CMD has found:
- The oil and gas lobby group American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) coordinated opposition in 2013 to both the Renewable Fuel Standard Program and ozone limits with Pruitt’s office. While AFPM was making its own case against the RFS with the American Petroleum Institute, it provided Pruitt with a template language for an Oklahoma petition, noting “this argument is more credible coming from a State.” Later that year, Pruitt did file opposition to both the RFS and ozone limits.
- In a groundbreaking New York Times Pulitzer winning series in 2014, Eric Lipton exposed the close relationship between Devon Energy and Scott Pruitt, and highlighted examples where Devon Energy drafted letters that were sent by Pruitt under his own name. These new emails reveal more of the same close relationship with Devon Energy. In one email, Devon Energy helped draft language that was later sent by Pruitt to the EPA about the limiting of methane from oil and gas fracking.
- In 2013, Devon Energy organized a meeting between Scott Pruitt, Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society and coal industry lawyer Paul Seby to plan the creation of a “clearinghouse” that would “assist AGs in addressing federalism issues.” Melissa Houston, then Pruitt’s chief of staff emailed Devon Energy saying “this will be an amazing resource for the AGs and for industry.”
Last week, the Oklahoma County Court found Scott Pruitt in violation of the state’s Open Records Act for improperly withholding responsive public records and ordered his office to release thousands of emails in a matter of days. CMD’s lawsuit has driven unprecedented attention to Pruitt’s failure to disclose his deep ties to fossil industry corporations, with Senators on the Environmental and Public Works Committee declaring CMD’s records requests a matter of “federal importance.”
In her ruling, Judge Timmons slammed the Attorney General’s office for its “abject failure” to abide by the Oklahoma Open Records Act.
The judge gave Pruitt’s office until Tuesday, February 21, to turn over more than 2,500 emails it withheld from CMD’s January 2015 records request, and ordered the office to turn over an undetermined number of documents responsive to CMD’s five additional open records requests outstanding between November 2015 and August 2016 by February 27. No deadline has been yet set for a further three outstanding open records requests.
Background
On February 10, Pruitt’s office responded to the oldest of CMD’s nine outstanding Open Records Act requests but provided just 411 of the more than 3,000 emails they had located, withholding thousands of emails relevant to the request and still failing to respond to CMD’s eight other outstanding requests. On February 14 CMD filed a status report with the judge detailing the scope of missing documents, including 27 emails that were previously turned over to The New York Times in 2014.
Pruitt’s continued lack of transparency extends from a difficult nomination process in which research from CMD demonstrated Pruitt’s repeated pattern of obfuscating ties to deep-pocketed, corporate interests, including private meetings with major fossil fuel companies while chair of the Republican Attorneys General Association and fundraising for the Rule of Law Defense Fund.
On Friday, after Pruitt was confirmed as EPA Administrator, Senator Whitehouse cautioned that the GOP “will rue the day that they had this nomination rammed through the Senate on the very day that the emails were being litigated in Oklahoma, in order to get ahead of any counterpressure.”
You people are desperately grasping for straws. There is noting illegal or unethical about Pruitt’s interaction with the companies. As AG, he interacted with other citizens and groups. Does that mean he had “ a close and friendly relationship ” with all the other parties? This is all propaganda and fake-news.
Way to go Scott Pruitt! The last Climate report turned out to be a hoax! A Big Pause for the TRUTH! The Trump Train is running on time!
Folks, this is a period of growth for us all. We have let our house get dusty and dirty and now we need to have a clean-out. Think of it as Spring Time.
We are responsible for the people we place in office so ultimately the ‘fault’ is ours not theirs for bending to the temptations of the corporations. We need to make sure the corruption is weeded out and only allow those who we think are honest and upright back into our corridors of power.
This is horrible! He should go to jail!
Living with an understanding that powerful government officials, on the public’s payroll, sometimes work directly for powerful private corporate interests doesn’t pack the same sickening punch as does reading a thread of emails between these parties that shows this process in action. These leave the impression the OAG is actively subservient to the private companies. With Pruitt’s “promotion” to lead the EPA, regulatory capture appears to be fully in place in America on the energy and environment fronts. Can an effective strategy be put into place to counter?
The only practical solution that deals with the huge scale of our problems in “leadership”, is to form a political party based on working people that refuses to take corp. money. It may not currently be in people’s first choices, but only because they want to try the same reforms of US govt. that has been attempted from 1776 forward. There has never been a party of the 99%. Without one, hunting for email won’t amount to anything but unrequited anger or one more bit of evidence of how crooked this crooked system is.
Scott Pruitt isn’t the source of our problems. The Demublicans are the source.
Well its good to get balance. For so long the EPA has been in bed with Environmental Corporations whose source and volume of funds are in direct proportion to the amount of alarmism they can drum up.
Bill, there are big truths and little truths. Is your effort to deflect condemnation of this attorney general’s behavior based on evidence as substantive as can be found even in just these emails? As I type, a plume of trichloroethylene contaminated groundwater near my home seeps further from the site where it was initially dumped. Contaminated private water wells have had to be abandoned and, at great public expense, a municipal water sysytem extended to replace these wells. Apparently the “unbalanced power” of the EPA you imply wasn’t powerful enough to prevent even a small business from causing significant public harm. Local and state resources also weren’t up to the task. Public environmnental health data and the best data sets on continuing air, water and biodiversity quality challenges don’t support your contention. A more robust EPA and greater “alarm” might have protected my neighbors’ private wells. Polluted aquafers don’t recognize political boundaries.
Make sure you pay attention to those persons other than Scott Pruitt as well. Put them on your watch list.
Memory has it a parallel to PRUITT in J. PETER GRACE and President Reagan. Grace in EPA charge shut down investigation into asbestos problems being sent around the country (World Trade Center) from the Grace mine in Libby, Montana. Now Montana State, and The Federal government is paying out claims in the $millions. Grace Co. is bankrupt (where are they hiding their money) Lawyers are wealthy all due to JPG’s actions after his appointment. What is in store for the country with Pruitt’s appointment? Rich new crop of Lawyers and costs by the tax payers in the Millions in payouts due to harmful damages. Think about it – Asbestos and Grace!
Democrats are about to pop a gasket. Nothing you can do now to stop Trump. You should have ran a better candidate and got out and voted. The media kept telling everyone Trump was going to loose so you all took a day off and forgot to vote. Blame the media!
Blame gerrymandering by the republicans and voter suppression. The disinformation campaign that the Russians carried out on behalf of Trump was very successful because of Trump’s collusion. Even the Russians admit that Trump’s campaign was in constant contact with them. The better candidate by far (Hillary Clinton) was sabotaged by the Koch brothers and their elitist accomplices funded the propaganda primarily through phony nonprofits using anonymous dark money donations. That is a fact. Trump and his cabinet with one or two exceptions are all oil and gas or Wall Street bank CEOs. No one in this Trump administration is for government, entitlements, regulations, environment, immigration reform, health care for the poor and disabled, Social Security or Medicare for seniors. FYI, 90 million people did not bother to vote mostly because of the propaganda spewed by Republicans against Hillary Clinton. The 90 million eligible non-voters are just now realizing how important their votes were if they had bothered: Trump and his cronies in the oil and banking industry want to dismantle everything that our country stands for because the Koch brothers have bought and paid for Republicans in Congress to do their bidding and they expect a return on their investment. Read the book DARK MONEY by Jane Mayer. It is truly enlightening.
So that’s your answer? Our children and grandchildren are going to drink poison water and breathe poisonous air…and this is what you offer as a retort?
Horrifying.
truly disgusting. it may years and years
but i have to believe enough people will wake before it is all gone.
The general public won’t pay any attention to these emails until/unless you describe real-world consequences of their actions. For example: I’m afraid that loosening EPA restrictions will result in higher pollution levels that will affect my children and grand children in a way that will affect their health. I’m afraid we will run out of clean water.
This is an attempt to create news where there is no story.
Yes Mr. Pruitt closely associates and coordinates with the “fossil fuel” industry (Ewww! Ick).
Probably because he’s trying to achieve a common sense approach and balance between the need for regulation and the need to produce fuel (and keep jobs) in order to reduce America’s reliance on foreign imports.
But that’s not the story you want to tell is it?
Been hangin’ out at the Advocate website again have we?
MG.
Mike G – It means that Mr. Pruitt is exactly the wrong person to represent the American public’s best interest in clean air, clean water and a livable climate. If he were being picked to represent or lobby for the fossil fuel industry or even jobs, you’re correct that there’s no story. But that’s the opposite of the position he now has.
If Mr. Pruitt has to choose between protecting the environment (the EPA’s job) or protecting fossil fuel jobs, which side will he choose? That’s the question that these emails clearly answer.
Please define “common sense”. None seems apparent in the failure to be transparent while serving as a “public” servant.
they will definitely pay , haven’t you heard, it’s Raining Democratic canidates to run for office in many state offices, they will vote the do nothing people out. this Administration will be held accountable for what they are trying to do, and it’s not going to go well for Republicans Everywhere!
I had no problem whatsoever accessing the link.
Incomprehensible. I hope and pray this is the Republican’s last hurrah!, or maybe, of course, that people get smarter but we know that ain’t gonna happen. 🙂 … 1 Corinthians 13:13 – Love is the greatest.
Can you post a link to email released by Oklahoma AG’s office?
The link is here:
https://www.documentcloud.org/search/projectid:%2031783-exposedbycmd-scott-pruitt-emails
500 Internal Server Error
Link fails with too many redirects.
The link to the emails is actually to this page. Where are the emails?
Are these emails available online anywhere?
Yes they are. I see them.
So where are the emails to read? I assume you’ve gotten them on a FOIA request. I don’t need or want you to translate them for me I can read and decipher for myself otherwise I’m just going to assume that you’re just promoting yet another agenda to defame Scott Pruitt and undermine the duly elected POTUS;s presidency.
Um…they’re literally right above this comment section on your screen.
They’re actually not showing up for me either. Firewall issue maybe?
I look forward to working with the
EPA and supporting Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as we work to reign in the EPA’s unnecessary
and complicating regulatory practices.
They weren’t there earlier.
The links are working just fine, and they are quite clearly genuine emails; any naysayers are just propagating “fake news.”
John, are you out of your head? This man has all but sold the State of Oklahoma to these greedy oil & gas ba$tards and now he has been handed the rest of the U.S. to auction off to the highest bidder.
Ok, now what happens? So Pruitt is in bed with big oil and gas? Does anyone care? He needs to resign and go to work for big oil, not be the head of EPA and still work for big oil , the tax payers are paying his salary to protect our environment. This is disgusting1
Not as long as the GOP control both houses and we have a pro 1 percenter in the WH.
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a non-profit watchdog organization dedicated to exposing PR “spin.” Though the group is officially nonpartisan, it labels itself as “progressive” and avoids criticism of liberal organizations in its publications.
CMD proudly declares on its website that it accepts “no contributions from for-profit corporations.” Yet, the group has no problem accepting huge grants from progressive foundations.
I though this would say it all.
So basically what you’re saying is that this organization is largely liberal/progressive/democrat whatever else you wanna label it, and therefore that means that they have a hidden agenda that will only serve to destroy our country and that they are hiding behind some kind of “oh we are really trying to protect the environment” facade, meanwhile laughing hysterically behind our backs when we believe them and their cause? So are you actually implying that instead, we should go ahead and put our entire faith and loyalty into Pruitt and all the others under Trump and also trust their honest words that the EPA and these transparent government and media promoting types should just shut up and be destroyed…? Should we just completely ban all media/press/journalism unless it serves to back Trump while we’re at it? Perhaps pass some new laws? Dismantle freedom of press? What are some other ways we can support everything Trump is doing and nothing that anyone else has to say?
‘Progressive’ is an opinion. ‘Oil’ is an interest. There is a difference.
Or would you also say that conservatives are biased by – er – conservatism?
Conservatives are opposed to conservation, so they should call themselves something else. Over the long haul, their cause has always lost. As Casey Stengel used to say, “You could look it up.”
I care for sure! What actions can be taken at this point apart from making a lot of noise that will likely be drowned out by other controversies of the Trump administration?
Agree what strategy would you employ to make him resign? Were there payment for his efforts? Did he release his tax returns? Can we get the financial disclosures he submitted for confirmation?
Good Question.. Did he release tax returns? Has the FBI had an opportunity to, perhaps, examine his freezer box? They found some $80-90k in the Democratic House Member for New Orleans, I believe, some 10-15 years ago.
Now I understand this is a conflation, but it serves four purposes: One, to illustrate corruption is a Blue Ribbon, Non-Partisan issue; Two, I’m an independent regardless of my parents’ opinion lol; Three, these things are not always reported to the IRS sic. Manafort’s $12.7 million in cash, helpfully listed in an unreported Ukrainian ledger; and Four, SOMEBODY OUGHT TO CHECK THE MAN’S ICE BOX FOR CASH!