April 7, 2018

Why Does Scott Pruitt Need a Bulletproof Desk, a Bulletproof Car, and $3 Million in 24/7 Security?

Cheriss May/NurPhoto via ZUMA

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Donald Trump stands by his man:

Death threats! My goodness. Well, let’s see them:

This is shocking. The president of the United States is just baldly lying? But that’s not all. He’s not even putting his heart into it:

Are you following Philippe Reines on Twitter? You should be. Reines is a famously, um, colorful guy who’s a longtime Hillary Clinton aide, and after she lost he took to Twitter and decided he didn’t give a shit what he said anymore. This naturally makes him great fun to read.

Oh, and as long as we’re on the subject of Pruitt, Michael Grunwald has a long piece in Politico making the point that Pruitt hasn’t actually accomplished much. He’s certainly good at self-promotion, but the fact is that rolling back EPA rules takes years of careful, detailed work. Will Pruitt pay attention long enough to do any of that? We’ll see. But so far it doesn’t seem like it. The press coverage seems to be what he’s really after.

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From the desk of Mother Jones CEO, Monika Bauerlein...

Newsrooms can be funded in many ways. One of the most controversial (and volatile) ways is by a for-profit corporation or a billionaire owner. We see it across the headlines on a weekly basis: the claw backs in public media, the gutting of The Washington Post, the bending over backwards to appeal to Trump and his allies.

But not here.

When Mother Jones first started publishing 50 years ago, our founders made a critical decision: to be a reader-supported nonprofit. They knew that no corporate owner would be interested in a muckraking newsroom; they also knew that no muckraking newsroom would be interested in following the agenda of a corporate owner.

And so, we’ve been reader-funded for half a century. We rely on contributions from our readers—readers like you—whether it’s $50, or $15 a month, or whatever fits your budget. People give what they can, and every donation makes a difference for our newsroom, which has grown tremendously—in size and reach and renown—since its inception in 1976.

You may be wondering: What does it take to publish an investigation? And what does my donation actually fund? The answers are one and the same: It takes people, resources, and time. And that’s what your donation funds directly.

Every donation Mother Jones receives from readers fortifies our newsroom, whether we’re covering underreported scandals out of Washington, DC, or the most important news of the day. And right now, each donation will be doubled because of our $50,000 match. So when you make a donation—$5, $50, any amount—it’ll go twice as far.

Your support keeps us going. If you’re able, donate today.

Thanks for reading.

—Monika

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