UNITED STATES
Washington Examiner
by John Siciliano
May 11, 2018
The Environmental Protection Agency left out in its official dispatches that Administrator Scott Pruitt dined last year with Cardinal George Pell, a prominent climate-science denier who had been facing sexual abuse allegations, the New York Times reported Friday.
The newspaper cited three sources familiar with Pruitt’s trip to the Vatican.
Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations, told the newspaper that top political appointees at the EPA feared meeting the cardinal would reflect poorly on Pruitt if it were made public.
About a month after the dinner in Rome, authorities in Australia charged Pell with sexual assault. He has denied all charges.
“It was a no-brainer,” Chmielewski said about the decision to keep quiet about Cardinal Pell’s presence. The account was confirmed by two people familiar with the trip.
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