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Why isn't there a Scott Pruitt resigned thread?

davefoc

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davefoc
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orange country, california
Didn't anybody notice?

Did he resign in the sense that he made the decision on his own?

Did Fox News play a key role in his removal if he was forced out?

Seth Mayers says he was forced out because he broke Trump's strict 58 strikes and you're out policy. Is there a too many strikes policy for cabinet members that keep their head down and that suck up to Trump sufficiently?

Part of Pruitt's resignation letter:

"...I believe you are serving as President today because of God’s providence. I believe that same providence brought me into your service. I pray as I have served you that I have blessed you and enabled you to effectively lead the American people. ..."

Did Pruitt think it was God that told him to use the siren so he could get to his party faster?
 
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What exactly was Pruitt thinking?

His penny ante corruption seems stupid on a risk/reward basis. As a reasonably corrupt individual he was well placed to make a friggin fortune as a fossil fuel lobbyist. He had some reasonable shots at a political career. All of that seems gone now because he couldn't constrain his greed for a few years to set up those kind of careers.

Oh well, at least he got the lead back in shotgun shells so we can start killing the condors again with lead poisoning. Although I guess there's some chance the whacko liberals in California are going to keep the lead out of the shot gun shells used in CA, anyway, but he tried.
 
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He's kind of toxic now. Republicans were getting tired of him. His post EPA administrator career prospects look pretty bleak.
 
davefoc said:
His penny ante corruption seems stupid on a risk/reward basis. As a reasonably corrupt individual he was well placed to make a friggin fortune as a fossil fuel lobbyist.
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Agree that it's worth a thread, but I can kind of see why no one made one. His resignation had seemed like a forgone conclusion for quite a while, and surfaced in "Trump Presidency" part 3 million or wherever we are.

As far as "reasonably" corrupt: I'm no expert but Pruitt seemed almost mentally ill with his paranoia level etc. His attempts to game the system - getting his wife a Chick-Fil-A franchise, for example - seemed extremely clumsy to me, both grandiose and impractical. (She probably would have done better just working a job, any job). I came to think of him as in over his head, and a little bit nuts, to use a non-clinical term. Had he been reasonably corrupt, he probably would have done fine.
 
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Minoosh said:
Agree that it's worth a thread, but I can kind of see why no one made one. His resignation had seemed like a forgone conclusion for quite a while, and surfaced in "Trump Presidency" part 3 million or wherever we are.
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It thought it might be imminent after Laura Ingraham started blasting him. That must have confused Trump a bit: What? Somebody not named Shepard Smith giving me crap on Fox News?
As far as "reasonably" corrupt: I'm no expert but Pruitt seemed almost mentally ill with his paranoia level etc. His attempts to game the system - getting his wife a Chick-Fil-A franchise, for example - seemed extremely clumsy to me, both grandiose and impractical. (She probably would have done better just working a job, any job). I came to think of him as in over his head, and a little bit nuts, to use a non-clinical term. Had he been reasonably corrupt, he probably would have done fine.
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So too nuts to be head of the EPA, but maybe if he'd been a bit more nuts he could have a shot at being president.
 
He should have been fired long ago. Pruitt is just another example of the kind of person Trump employs and praises. He's on track to having the most corrupt administration in USA history.
 
Here's his resume, as extracted from his Wikipedia page:
Born middle-class in 1968.
Graduated law school 1993, age 25, probably with substantial student loan debt.
Started a law practice upon graduation focusing on defending Christians in religious liberty cases. Doesn't sound particularly lucrative.
Career politician ever since in the Oklahoma legislature and as OK AG.

In short: Unlike many Trump appointees, probably not particularly wealthy and looking to cash in.

ETA:
...Vanity Fair lumped him in with a handful of Trump's "poor" nominees, estimating that he has "barely $1 million in investible assets; $5 million at best."
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Source. That's poverty level in Trumpland.
 
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Craig4 said:
He's kind of toxic now. Republicans were getting tired of him. His post EPA administrator career prospects look pretty bleak.
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We will probably never know how this went down, but it seems likely that the Republican leadership told Trump this was moving quickly to a situation that was going to be difficult for Republicans and that Pruitt had to go. Democrats would probably have liked to have him hang on until closer to the mid term elections.


Is there any real possibility that this was Pruitt's decision? Maybe they let him think it was his decision? Maybe Pruitt looked at all the upcoming investigations and thought getting out of Dodge was a pretty good idea?
 
Trebuchet said:
In short: Unlike many Trump appointees, probably not particularly wealthy and looking to cash in.
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maybe I was too quick to discount the idea that corruption and not craziness was his main driver. Still, has the guy got no ability to hold back a little in return for much more lucrative future grifting?
 
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davefoc said:
We will probably never know how this went down, but it seems likely that the Republican leadership told Trump this was moving quickly to a situation that was going to be difficult for Republicans and that Pruitt had to go. Democrats would probably have liked to have him hang on until closer to the mid term elections.


Is there any real possibility that this was Pruitt's decision? Maybe they let him think it was his decision? Maybe Pruitt looked at all the upcoming investigations and thought getting out of Dodge was a pretty good idea?
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It was probably only a matter of time before one of the ethics investigations turned into a criminal investigation.
 
davefoc said:
maybe I was too quick to discount the idea that corruption and not craziness was his main driver. Still, has the guy got no ability to hold back a little in return for much more lucrative future grifting?
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False dichotomy! Remember, he began his law career by defending insane fundies, then move on to some pretty shady stuff in OK as noted in the Wiki article. Surrounded by actual rich guys, he just had to keep up.
 
Trebuchet said:
... then move on to some pretty shady stuff in OK as noted in the Wiki article. ...
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Ah yes, the shady stuff. Apparently, he was already an experienced grifter before he got the job so he really didn't see any reason to discontinue that when he got the job because he had gotten away with it before.
 
davefoc said:
We will probably never know how this went down, but it seems likely that the Republican leadership told Trump this was moving quickly to a situation that was going to be difficult for Republicans and that Pruitt had to go. ...
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Maybe we will:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/poli...-house-sources-say/ar-AAzGAXr?ocid=spartandhp

(Bloomberg) -- Scott Pruitt resigned as EPA chief Thursday after White House Chief of Staff John Kelly delivered a message from the president that it was time for the scandal-plagued administrator to leave, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Pruitt didn’t want to leave his post and was described as being devastated that he had to resign, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a personnel matter.
President Donald Trump wanted Pruitt to leave, after revelations that the administrator’s public schedule had been altered to shield some meetings from public view, they said. Doctored schedules -- which could be a criminal violation of the Federal Records Act -- were effectively the final straw after a tenure marred by alleged ethical missteps. The administration knew that more damaging reports would emerge soon, one of the people said.
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But maybe this story is a lie and Trump told the truth when he said it was Pruitt's decision. “It was very much up to him,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “We’ve been talking about it for a little while.”

What does theprestige thnk? Trump lied and he forced Pruitt out as Bloomberg reported or Trump told the truth and Pruitt left under his own steam?

This whole thing should be a safe topic for theprestige. Fox News has actually been pretty tough on Pruitt for awhile, so its not like supporting Pruitt is essential dogma for Trumpers.
 
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