Scott Pruitt's controversial security chief moonlighted for the National Enquirer's publisher during the 2016 election

EPA chief Scott Pruitt's liberal public spending on first-class airplane tickets, soundproof phone booth, and 24/7 security happened after Pruitt replaced his first chief of security with Pasquale "Nino" Perrotta, a former Secret Service agent who reportedly encouraged or proposed many of the expenditures. Perrotta also owns a private security business on the side, and during the 2016 election he moonlighted for American Media Inc. and its chairman and CEO, David Pecker, a longtime friend of President Trump, The New York Times and The Associated Press report, citing records and interviews.

It isn't clear what duties Perrotta, 50, performed for AMI, publisher of the National Enquirer — which promoted and protected Trump and smeared his rivals during the 2016 election — and Radar. But the Times reports that "some of the activities included physical security, cybersecurity, and investigative services involving litigation," and AP said that "Perrotta was engaged to discretely handle investigative work at the direction" of Pecker.

On Tuesday, Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) sent a letter to the EPA's Office of General Counsel asking for information on Perrotta's outside work. In 2013, he got a five-year waiver from the EPA to operate "a security firm that will provide cybersecurity and denial of service insurance to consumers," and he then founded Sequoia Security Group. Carper and Whitehouse said Perrotta's side job appears to have exceeded the permitted activities.

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In an email to the Times, Perrotta noted that he "was a highly respected federal agent" and complained that the news coverage of Pruitt's questionable spending and security measures have "tarnished" his image. He added that he is "retiring as planned" this summer, and argued that he "served two former administrators and now to end my career this way is totally unacceptable." You can read more about his ties to Trump's circle and an apparently useless $3,000 bug sweep of Pruitt's office at The New York Times.