Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Trump's pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, must hand over thousands of emails related to his communication with representatives of the gas, oil, and coal industry, an Oklahoma judge ruled Thursday.
The Center for Media and Democracy filed a lawsuit after Pruitt refused to release the emails under public records laws. The judge gave Pruitt's office until Tuesday to turn over the records, but the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on his confirmation Friday. "A rushed Senate vote to confirm Pruitt as EPA Administrator right now would be a travesty," Elizabeth Thompson, president of climate and political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. "The documents in question are related to Pruitt's fitness to serve as head of EPA. Senators should exercise due diligence when confirming nominees, and they can't do that when they've been denied access to relevant information."
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