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Watchdog Group Sues Pruitt To See Communications With Fossil Fuel Industry

Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general, gestures as he speaks at a news conference in Oklahoma City, Monday, April 8, 2013.
Sue Ogrocki
/
AP
Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma attorney general, gestures as he speaks at a news conference in Oklahoma City, Monday, April 8, 2013.

The Center for Media and Democracy on Tuesday filed an open records lawsuit against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, accusing the Trump administration’s pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of failing to provide public access to emails and other documents for more than two years.

 

The lawsuit, filed in Oklahoma County District Court, seeks records requested from 2015 through 2017 under Oklahoma’s Open Records Act. The Center for Media and Democracy, a Wisconsin-based nonprofit media watchdog, requested communications between the attorney general’s office, fossil fuel companies and the Republican Attorney General’s Association.

The group is also asking a judge for an injunction preventing the Oklahoma AG’s office from destroying any documents related to its records request.

The U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week whether to confirm Pruitt as administrator of the EPA, a federal agency the Oklahoma attorney general has fought with lawsuits and vowed to reform.

Pruitt has declined interview requests until the confirmation process is complete.

 

StateImpact Oklahoma is a partnership among Oklahoma’s public radio stations and relies on contributions from readers and listeners to fulfill its mission of public service to Oklahoma and beyond. Donate online.

Joe was a founding reporter for StateImpact Oklahoma (2011-2019) covering the intersection of economic policy, energy and environment, and the residents of the state. He previously served as Managing Editor of Urban Tulsa Weekly, as the Arts & Entertainment Editor at Oklahoma Gazette and worked as a Staff Writer for The Oklahoman. Joe was a weekly arts and entertainment correspondent for KGOU from 2007-2010. He grew up in Bartlesville, Okla. and studied journalism at the University of Central Oklahoma.
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