Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt may still have a job, in spite of his being the subject of multiple investigations for alleged ethics violations, because of the role he could play in helping President Trump impede Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
CNN:
Embattled Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt directly appealed to President Donald Trump this spring to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and let him run the Department of Justice instead, according to three people familiar with the proposal. In an Oval Office conversation with Trump, Pruitt offered to temporarily replace Sessions for 210 days under the Vacancies Reform Act, telling the President he would return to Oklahoma afterward to run for office.
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Advisers quickly shot down the proposal, but it came at a time when Trump's frustration with Sessions over his decision to recuse himself from overseeing the Russia investigation had resurfaced. Trump has complained loudly and publicly about the recusal for the last 14 months, and floated replacing Sessions with Pruitt as recently as April.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 gives the President the authority to temporarily fill a vacancy at a federal agency if the official "dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office."
If Trump wants to use the Vacancies Act maneuver, he could pick any Senate-confirmed figure in his administration. But Pruitt is in some ways the ideal candidate. He’s a lawyer, deeply loyal to Trump, and, most importantly, is not hung up on following ethical rules or norms. Pruitt’s ability to withstand constant revelations of unethical and/or illegal behavior is a strong sign of his willingness to carry out Trump’s wildly unethical goal of turning the Justice Department into his personal rent-a-cops.
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CNN doesn’t say that Pruitt specifically promised to quash Mueller. But this is Trump’s highest-order goal, and the primary source of his fury with Sessions. There is almost no doubt that Pruitt is promising to make the Russia investigation go away.
Trump hasn’t pulled the trigger on this plan yet. CNN’s reporting indicates that aides “shot down the proposal.” But aides have shot down lots of Trump proposals that haven’t stayed shot — starting trade wars, cracking down on immigrant children, having a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin. The story also notes that “White House officials continue to be perplexed by Pruitt’s good standing with the President.” Maybe they shouldn’t be perplexed.
Pruitt directly asked Trump to replace Sessions with him (CNN)
Why Hasn’t Trump Fired Scott Pruitt? Because Pruitt Can Fire Robert Mueller. (New York Magazine)
Ethics Investigation into EPA Head Scott Pruitt Widens (Scientific American)