Contract to Sweep EPA Office for Bugs Probed by Lawmakers

(Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats are pressing the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to explain how his top security guard's business partner ended up with a contract to search the EPA building for listening devices.

Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Tom Carper told EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt they are concerned the security officer, Pasquale "Nino" Perrotta, "may have used his position at the agency to influence the award of EPA contracts to a person or company in which he has a financial interest." 

Perrotta is at least the third EPA employee drawing Congressional scrutiny for moonlighting while keeping a day job at the agency.

The senators cited the EPA's decision to pay $3,000 to Edwin Steinmetz Associates to search for hidden listening devices in Pruitt's office. Edwin Steinmetz is listed as the vice president of technical surveillance countermeasures at the Maryland-based security company Sequoia Security Group Inc. And Perrotta is the company's principal.

“These facts raise questions about Mr. Perrotta's compliance with EPA regulations," Whitehouse, of Rhode Island, and Carper, of Delaware, said in a letter.

Related: Democrats Seek Details on EPA Political Appointees' Side Jobs

The senators, top Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, asked Pruitt to detail requests by Perrotta to do private sector work on top of his EPA job, any approvals he received and any financial disclosures he has made during his tenure at EPA, dating back to the administration of former President George W. Bush. The senators also asked Pruitt to provide details on security contracts and explain whether Perrotta was involved in any decision about the need to sweep the administrator's office for bugs. And they pressed for details on two other EPA contracts to install biometric locks at the agency.

“Once again, Senate EPW Democrats went to the press before sending their letter to EPA," EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said by email. "Security sweeps are common practice in government, and former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson had her office swept. We looked at a couple of different vendors, and our career administrative officials approved the same vendor that the Office of the Inspector General used in other offices within EPA."

Perrotta and Steinmetz did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Perrotta, an EPA special agent in charge, has traveled with Pruitt and described aggressive encounters with members of the public and the administrator that have been cited to justify Pruitt's first-class travel.

At least two other EPA officials -- both political appointees of the Trump administration -- have gotten approval from the agency's ethics officer to keep their side gigs. Deputy Associate Administrator for Public Affairs John Konkus, whose day job includes vetting EPA grants, got permission to continue providing "consultative media advice." Konkus has been an executive vice president of a Republican political consulting firm.

And a Denver-based EPA senior adviser for public engagement, Patrick Davis, won approval to keep being compensated as a sales director for Telephone Town Hall Meeting, which provides services such as robocalls and does outreach for advocacy organizations, campaigns and legislators.

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked Pruitt on Monday to provide details about Konkus' and Davis' work.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer A. Dlouhy in Washington at jdlouhy1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jon Morgan at jmorgan97@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman

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