THIS IS SERIOUS
It’s Not Just Jeff Sessions: The FBI Must Investigate Scott Pruitt for Lying to Congress
Scott Pruitt used private email to conduct government business, but he didn’t say that when asked by the Senate. If Hillary Clinton was investigated for lying, he should be too.
Jay Michaelson
03.03.17 1:15 AM ET
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt lied to Congress about his use of private email to conduct government business when he was Oklahoma attorney general. And as it did with Hillary Clinton, and as it should do with Jeff Sessions, the FBI should immediately open an investigation into what is becoming an alarming pattern for the Trump cabinet.
A Feb. 17 investigation by Oklahoma City’s Fox 25 news station revealed that Pruitt used a private email account to coordinate strategy and talking points with fossil fuel companies to oppose environmental rules, among other things. And a subsequent review of more than 7,500 emails by the Associated Press showed that Pruitt used his private email to conduct official business, including communicating with staff and lobbyists.
That directly contradicts what Pruitt told Congress in January.
Pruitt’s responded: “I use only my official OAG [Office of the Attorney General] email address and government-issued phone to conduct official business.”
As we know now, that was untrue. (Pruitt’s EPA office did not respond to a request for comment.)
It may also be a crime. Section 1001 of the criminal code defines the crime of “False Statement to Government Agency” as anyone who “(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact; or (2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” when speaking to government agents or officials (PDF).
This broad statute is the one that sent Martha Stewart to prison for lying about insider trading, and the one under which Henry Cisneros was indicted for lying to FBI investigators during his own confirmation process for secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1992. The penalty for a Section 1001 violation is identical to that of perjury: a maximum of five years in prison. The two crimes are functionally equivalent.
When it comes to statements to Congress, Section 1001 is limited to “any investigation or review, conducted pursuant to the authority of any committee, subcommittee, commission or office of the Congress.”
This most likely includes a confirmation hearing, according to Pace Law School professor Bennett Gershman.
more:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/03/it-s-not-just-jeff-sessions-the-fbi-must-investigate-scott-pruitt-for-lying-to-congress.html?via=newsletter&source=DDMorning
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