More Pruitt emails show ties to fossil fuel companies

By MICHAEL BIESECKER and ADAM KEALOHA CAUSEY
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – Newly obtained emails underscore just how closely Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt coordinated with fossil fuel companies while serving as Oklahoma’s state attorney general, a position in which he frequently sued the agency he now leads.

The latest batch of Pruitt’s emails was provided to The Associated Press on Thursday, running more than 4,000 pages. They include schedules and lists of speaking engagements from the years before Pruitt became the nation’s top environmental watchdog, recounting dozens of meetings between Pruitt, his staff, and executives and lobbyists from the oil and gas industries.

Democratic senators fought unsuccessfully to get Pruitt’s emails prior to his February confirmation vote. Shortly after Pruitt was sworn in, an Oklahoma judge ruled he had been violating the state’s public records law by withholding the correspondence.