Scott Pruitt: I’m Forced To Fly First Class Because Once Someone Said Something Rotten To Me At The Airport

The Washington Post reports:

Verbal confrontations with members of the public prompted Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt to switch to flying first or business class whenever possible, officials said Thursday.

Henry Barnet, who directs EPA’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training, said in an interview that the head of Pruitt’s security detail, Pasquale Perrotta, recommended in May that he fly in either first or business class to provide “a buffer” between him and the public. Perrotta’s memo was prompted by an incident that month when a person approached Pruitt “with threatening language” that was “vulgar,” Barnet said.

Pruitt’s travel practices have come under renewed increasing scrutiny after The Washington Post detailed this week how his trips have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. His many first-class flights include a $1,641.43 trip from Washington to New York last June and a $7,003.52 round-trip ticket to Italy last summer. Pruitt also has taken numerous first-class flights — typically ranging from $2,000 to $2,600 — to events in his home state of Oklahoma, where he often stays the weekend.

That “vulgar” language was this: “Scott Pruitt, you are fucking up the environment!” Pruitt also recently took a military plane from Cincinnati to make a connection at JFK. That hour-long hop cost $36,068.50.