Westbrook, MAINE - Remember that time Republican State Senator Garrett Mason, who is now a candidate for governor, praised Scott Pruitt? He probably doesn’t want you to given that the EPA Administrator is now under heavy fire for likely violating federal ethics rules and, according to reports, is at risk of losing his job.
But as a reminder: in a January 2017 op-ed, Mason lauds Pruitt’s conservative credentials and “respect for the Constitution”, writing that his approach to dismantling environmental protections would “help Maine.”
Both Republican Senator Susan Collins and Independent Senator Angus King disagreed with Mason’s assessment and opposed Pruitt’s nomination. Collins even said that Pruitt’s record of suing the EPA during his time as Attorney General of Oklahoma left her with “considerable doubts about whether his vision for the EPA is consistent with the Agency’s critical mission to protect human health and the environment.”
“Garrett Mason made a bad judgment call on Scott Pruitt last year - one that Maine’s own U.S. Senators didn’t agree with - and now we are seeing the result of Pruitt’s questionable ethical behavior,” said Phil Bartlett, Chairman of the Maine Democratic Party. “Given Senator Mason’s support of Pruitt then, it’s not unreasonable to ask whether or not he he supports Pruitt now and whether he believes it was wrong for Pruitt to cash-in on a sweetheart rental deal from a lobbyist his agency works with.”
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