Oklahoma Bar Association Opens Investigation of Ex-AG Pruitt

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma Bar Association has opened an investigation into an ethics complaint against former state Attorney General Scott Pruitt, now administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a letter from the association's general counsel.

The complaint, filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, a nonprofit organization that works to protect endangered species, and associate professor Kristen van de Biezenbos of the University of Oklahoma College of Law, says Pruitt may have violated the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct when he told a U.S. Senate committee at his confirmation hearings in January that he only used his attorney general's email address to conduct official business.

The complaint, dated March 21, says documents released by the attorney general's office through an Open Records Act lawsuit in Oklahoma seem to contradict Pruitt's sworn testimony and indicate Pruitt also used a personal email address to conduct official business.

"It appears that Mr. Pruitt misrepresented material facts that bore on the Senate committee's analysis of Mr. Pruitt's fitness to serve as EPA Administrator," the complaint states.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oklahoma/articles/2017-03-30/oklahoma-bar-association-opens-investigation-of-ex-ag-pruitt