WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — During his confirmation hearing in the US Senate, Pruitt stated he did not conduct any state business through his private email account while he was serving as Oklahoma attorney general.
However, materials revealed in an Oklahoma public records lawsuit demonstrate that the EPA administrator received at least one email from a vice president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers association to his private account.
"Pruitt’s friends in the fossil fuel industry clearly knew how to reach him best: at his personal email address," CBD senior attorney Amy Atwood stated. "Lawyers and public servants must adhere to the strictest ethical standards, and the Oklahoma Bar should investigate Pruitt’s apparent carelessness with the truth."
CBD argued that an investigation should focus on possible ethical violations from Pruitt’s false testimony. The use of personal account by a state attorney general is not against the law, but lying under oath is a perjury offense.
Democrats have accused Pruitt of being too close to the fossil fuel industry and have criticized him for his refusal to recuse himself from lawsuits in which he is now both plaintiff and defendant.
