House panel set to interview EPA chief’s head of security in conduct probe

FAN Editor

The House Oversight Committee is expected to interview Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s head of security on Wednesday, according to a congressional aide familiar with the planned meeting, the latest indication that Pruitt still faces scrutiny from Congress after back-to-back hearings last week.

Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta, a former Secret Service agent whose career in law enforcement included a stint investigating the Gambino crime family for the Bronx district attorney in New York City, now leads Pruitt’s 24-hour security detail, putting him at the center of several of the ethics and spending episodes under review by the EPA inspector general and congressional investigators.

An EPA spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the transcribed interview.

In an exclusive interview with ABC News, former EPA Deputy Chief of Staff Kevin Chmielewski, a whistleblower who claims he was forced out of the agency after raising concerns about travel and security spending, claimed Perrotta threatened to come to his home to take away his EPA parking pass, and worked to discredit him for questioning Pruitt’s spending on travel and security.

Perrotta did not respond to a message or emails seeking comment about the interview, or Chmielewski’s allegations.

Chmielewski also recently told Senate Democrats that Perrotta hired Italian security guards to protect Pruitt on a trip to Italy in June 2017.

Private Italian security guards hired by Perrotta helped arrange an expansive motorcade for Pruitt and his entourage, according to the EPA official with direct knowledge of the trip. The source described the Italian additions as personal friends of Perrotta, who joined Pruitt and his EPA staff for an hours-long dinner at an upscale restaurant.

Democrats have also raised questions about Perrotta’s potential role in the awarding of an EPA security contract.

Edwin Steinmetz, his business partner at Sequoia Security Group — the Maryland security firm where he is a partner –- received a contract to sweep Pruitt’s office for listening devices, according to The Associated Press.

In an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., whose staff has already interviewed Chmielewski, confirmed that the committee is scheduling interviews with Perrotta and a number of other top Pruitt aides.

Late last week the committee also received more than 1,000 pages of documents related to Pruitt’s first-class travel, trips to Italy and Morocco and controversial condo rental agreement.

“We’re going to do it the way I’m used to doing it — gather the documents, interview the witnesses and then share it at the appropriate time,” Gowdy said Sunday.

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