EPA corrects reports about bulletproof tires and bullet-resistant seat covers for Pruitt

close

Video

Report: Mounting pressure on EPA's Scott Pruitt to resign

The EPA released a statement addressing the administrator's large security detail while Scott Pruitt also faces scrutiny over a housing deal and improper staff raises.

The Environmental Protection Agency is correcting the record, claiming news reports about bulletproof tires and bullet-resistant seat covers to protect its embattled chief Scott Pruitt at government expense were inaccurate.

EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox told Fox News: “We would like to put this rumor to rest. EPA has no bulletproof vehicles, tires or seat covers, the agency has no contracts for any bulletproof vehicles, tires or seat covers, and the agency never sought any contracts for bulletproof vehicles, tires or seat covers.”

Wilcox also sent to Fox News “the federal purchase order, which reveals there was no purchase of bulletproof tires or bullet-resistant covers.”

Wilcox added, “In response to an individual attempting to assassinate numerous Congressional Republicans while they practiced for a charity baseball game, EPA’s Protective Service Detail placed bullet-proof vests over each seat.”

Leftist gunman James Hodgkinson allegedly attacked Republican lawmakers as they practiced for the annual Congressional baseball game last June. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was one of four injured on the Virginia baseball diamond.

Pruitt has been under intense scrutiny since it was first revealed last month that he had stayed last year in a bargain-priced Capitol Hill condo tied to a fossil-fuels lobbyist.

The EPA administrator and those around him are the subject of multiple investigations launched by government watchdogs and congressional committees looking into luxury travel expenses, outsized security spending and massive raises awarded to political appointees.

President Donald Trump defended Pruitt in a tweet earlier this month, downplaying the ethical questions swirling around his EPA chief. He added that Pruitt’s security spending was “somewhat more” than prior EPA chiefs, but said Pruitt had received death threats “because of his bold actions at EPA.”

Fox News’ John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.