By Evan Halper

Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Even as President Donald Trump tries to quiet speculation that Scott Pruitt’s days in his administration are numbered, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency continues to become a bigger political liability for him.

Now the federal government’s top ethics officer is calling for the EPA to take action addressing Pruitt’s multiple alleged ethics lapses. The letter sent to the EPA from David Apol, acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, was notable because such letters are rarely written from Apol’s office. The New York Times first reported on the letter, which is dated April 6.

It warns the EPA appears to be inadequately addressing the various ethics issues swirling around Pruitt and “action to appropriately address any violations” may be necessary. Apol expresses particular concern about the $50-a-night bedroom Pruitt rented from the wife of a top energy lobbyist on a block in D.C. where housing typically costs much more.

“Only after the existence of the lease was reported in the press did he provide EPA ethics advisors with limited information about the lease,” Apol wrote. After the EPA ethics officer condoned the housing arrangement retroactively, Apol wrote, other details about it emerged suggesting the use of the condo may have been an improper gift to Pruitt. “Additional information has now come to light that calls into question whether the earlier determination that the administration paid market value for the use he made of the apartment would still be valid.” While Apol did not specify the nature of the additional information, it was likely a reference to the reported use of the apartment by Pruitt’s daughter at no additional charge.

Apol also takes aim at Pruitt’s big spending on travel, security and salaries for aides. He wrote that reports that Pruitt has regularly scheduled costly government trips to his home state of Oklahoma to offset the expense of travel there for personal and political reasons “raise concerns about whether the administrator is using his public office for personal gain.”

And Apol found “extremely concerning” reports that Pruitt has sidelined several staffers who confronted him about excessive spending. “If true,” he wrote, “it is hard to imagine any action that could more effectively undermine an agency’s integrity.”