May 10, 2018

Scott Pruitt Broke Bread With a Climate-Skeptic Cardinal Accused of Sexual Abuse

When in Rome…

Chris Kleponis/ZUMA

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt dined at a five-star restaurant with Cardinal George Pell, a climate-change skeptic who faces child sexual abuse charges, during a visit to Rome in June 2017, documents obtained by the New York Times show.

According to the Times, EPA staff knew the Cardinal was under investigation at the time, and multiple EPA schedules from that day do not include the meeting with Pell. Pruitt’s chief of staff and Leonard Leo, executive vice president of the Federalist Society, were also at the dinner.

Cardinal Pell will soon stand trial for multiple counts of child sexual abuse. 

Here are the documents obtained by the Times:

Private Tour of Apostolic Palace Proposed with Cardinal Pell (p. 18)

View entire document on DocumentCloud

And here is a Twitter thread from the Times‘ Eric Lipton: 

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THE TRUTH...

is the first thing despots go after. An unwavering commitment to it is probably what draws you to Mother Jones' journalism. And as we're seeing in the US and the world around, authoritarians seek to poison the discourse and the way we relate to each other because they can't stand people coming together around a shared sense of the truth—it's a huge threat to them.

Which is also a pretty great way to describe Mother Jones' mission: People coming together around the truth to hold power accountable.

And right now, we need to raise about $400,000 from our online readers over the next two months to hit our annual goal and make good on that mission. Read more about the information war we find ourselves in and how people-powered, independent reporting can and must rise to the challenge—and please support our team's truth-telling journalism with a donation if you can right now.

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