Speed Reads

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Scott Pruitt's assistants reportedly made his hotel reservations, then got stuck footing the bill

Scott Pruitt, scandal-accumulator extraordinaire, doesn't pick up the tab — he has assistants for that.

The Environmental Protection Agency administrator reportedly asked aides to book hotel rooms for his travels, then never repaid them for the cost of the reservation, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Pruitt, whose management of the EPA has been under close scrutiny as various reports of misconduct emerge, has kept a very busy schedule chatting with oil executives and attending the Rose Bowl. All that travel, staffed by a full security detail, means many flights and hotel rooms. To book those hotel rooms, Pruitt would "routinely" ask assistants to put down their own personal credit cards, a former EPA official told the Post.

One staffer recalled being left with a $600 bill after booking a hotel for Pruitt's family. When she hadn't been paid back after the official reimbursement period had expired, Pruitt's chief of staff ended up slipping her the cash that Pruitt owed her. Perhaps Pruitt was too busy moisturizing with Ritz-Carlton lotion to think about the Ritz-Carlton's room fees. Read more at The Washington Post.