Buzz Aldrin went to the moon, round trip no less, and claimed $33.31 in travel expenses. But that was a different day and age and Buzzilla was a different kinda guy. Scott Pruitt installed his soundproof booth, aka the Cone of Silence, at a cost of $43,000, and used it once on a five minute call to the White House, which computes to $143 per second.
You may remember a few details of this debacle, namely that Pruitt disregarded entirely a federal spending law stipulating that for any expenditure over $5,000 an official had to give advance notice to Congress. Washington Post:
While the original contract for the phone booth was slated to cost roughly $25,000, the agency ended up paying contractors an additional $18,000 to convert a closet space that could house it. That work included removing closed-circuit television equipment, pouring 55 square feet of concrete, installing a drop ceiling and patching and painting the room. […]
Previously Pruitt had likened the booth to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF), which government officials use to conduct secure conversations, arguing that he needed it to discuss matters with the White House. The EPA has a SCIF at its headquarters on a different floor from the administrator’s office.
“Cabinet-level officials need to have access to secure communications,” the then-administrator testified in December. “It’s necessary for me to be able to do my job.”
Pruitt had said previously about the booth that he had “used it sparingly,” but certainly didn’t say only once for five minutes. That detail was unearthed by Verizon phone logs released in response to litigation filed by the Sierra Club. They weren’t enchanted with Pruitt before and now they’re beyond disgust.
“With each new revelation it becomes clearer and clearer that Donald Trump enabled the most corrupt cabinet member ever to hang on far past his expiration date,” [Sierra Club legislative director Melinda] Pierce said, adding that Pruitt’s successor continues to advance policies that benefit corporate interests. “We need leadership at the EPA that can be trusted to protect our health, not polluter profits.”
Scott Pruitt should be restricted to using a pay phone for every call he makes from here on out — the same pay phone — until he has deposited enough quarters to pay us back. That would be 172,000.
