EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has received 70 credible threats...
The Wall Street Journal editorial board drops a bombshell.
Reform in Washington is always difficult, but at the Environmental Protection Agency it’s also dangerous. Since the Trump Administration took office, the agency has investigated more than 70 credible threats against EPA staffers, with a disproportionate number menacing Administrator Scott Pruitt and his family. The EPA responded by beefing up his security detail, but Mr. Pruitt’s political opponents are now trying to hold these warranted precautions against him.
Pruitt has received more than five times as many threats as Gina McCarthy, his predecessor. These include explicit death threats, some referencing his home address.
Naturally, liberals say Pruitt is sending "death threats to the world and all who live on her." Democrats have asked whether Pruitt's security is "potential waste or abuse of taxpayer dollars."
But the EPA inspector general’s office—in addition to the agency’s criminal enforcement division and protective service—recommended 24/7 security for Mr. Pruitt based on the unprecedented threats. A lean team of agents share the responsibility for safeguarding Mr. Pruitt, and their salaries will cost taxpayers roughly $2 million a year. The EPA’s other safety precautions include a $15,780 upgrade of the card-access system in EPA offices.Mr. Pruitt didn’t invent these threats, and Cabinet members shouldn’t have to fear violence as a price of public service. When the federal government protects Cabinet members from those who would harm them for doing their jobs, it is protecting American democracy.
Can you imagine if conservatives had been issuing constant death threats against Obama's EPA administrator? And if Republicans were asking if it was a waste of money to keep her safe?
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