Aide sought a new apartment for Pruitt, as well as an 'old mattress' from Trump hotel

At the time, Pruitt was renting a condominium for $50 a night from a lobbyist who had business before the agency.

Federal ethics standards prohibit such personal assistance by a subordinate, even if the employee is working outside of office hours. One provision bans the use of government time to handle personal matters. A second provision prohibits bosses from asking employees to handle personal matters for them outside of the office.

“Directing or coercing a subordinate to perform such activities during nonduty hours constitutes an improper use of public office for private gain,” according to the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the executive branch.

According to a partial transcript released by Democrats on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Hupp worked with real estate agents and visited at least 10 apartments over more than a month to find Pruitt new lodging. She also did other personal errands for the administrator including booking his personal travel to the Rose Bowl college football game.

Hupp made the statements during a May 18 interview with the committee, which was part of a larger investigation into Pruitt’s spending and management practices. The House Oversight panel’s inquiry is one of a dozen ongoing federal investigations related to Pruitt’s first-class travel, $3.5 million spending on security, ties to lobbyists and other issues.

In a letter to Rep. Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the oversight committee, ranking Democrats Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland and Gerald E. Connolly of Virginia accused Pruitt of “multiple abuses of authority” by using agency staff for his own personal purposes.

The lawmakers said the agency was withholding documents related to Hupp’s real estate efforts and called on Gowdy to subpoena them.

“If Ms. Hupp’s statements to the committee are accurate, Mr. Pruitt crossed a very clear line and must be held accountable,” Cummings and Connolly wrote.

A spokeswoman for Gowdy criticized the decision by Democrats to release part of Hupp’s statements.

“Selectively releasing portions of witness interview transcripts damages the credibility of our investigation and discourages future witnesses from coming forward,” said Amanda Gonzalez, Gowdy’s spokeswoman. “The Committee will continue conducting a serious, fact-driven investigation, and therefore will wait until the conclusion of our investigation to release our findings.”

Gonzalez did not respond when asked if Gowdy would support using his subpoena power. The Democrats cannot issue one on their own.

Jahan Wilcox, a spokesman for the EPA, said in a statement, “We are working diligently with Chairman Gowdy and are in full cooperation in providing the Committee with the necessary documents, travel vouchers, receipts and witnesses to his inquiries.”

Pruitt, during a Senate hearing in May, acknowledged that Hupp did unpaid work for him by searching for housing on her personal time.

Hupp told investigators that Pruitt did not pay her for her work, which she said she performed on her personal time like lunch hours and vacations.

She also tried to find him a bed.

Asked about an email to the managing director of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Hupp said, “I do not recall sending this email, but I do recall there being discussions about the possibility of securing an old mattress from the Trump Hotel.”

Hupp told investigators the interaction occurred around the time that Pruitt moved apartments. She said she did not remember more of the interaction, including whether a mattress was ever purchased.

The statements by Hupp come after other employees have told investigators about the first-class-only flight arrangements made for Pruitt, unusual spending on his office at the agency headquarters and demands when he traveled to stay at luxurious hotels, even if they exceeded standards set by the federal government as to how much can be paid for a room.

Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit ethics group, said that Pruitt’s reliance on Hupp was a violation of federal ethics rules.

“Pruitt apparently believes the agency is at his service to attend to his personal needs, whims and desires for luxurious accommodations,” Weissman said. “Usually public servants think they are working for the public.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Aide sought a new apartment for Pruitt, as well as an 'old mattress' from Trump hotel

Millan Hupp, who serves as Pruitt’s scheduling director, told congressional investigators that she worked unpaid to help find the administrator new housing.

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