WASHINGTON — The lobbyist couple who leased a room to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have been cited for not having the required license to rent the room, the District of Columbia government said Thursday.
The property owners do not hold the business license required to rent the property, the DC Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs said in a news release. The notice of infraction “carries a potential fine of $2,034,” according to the release.
Property records show the condo was bought by Vicki Hart, a health care lobbyist whose husband, Steven Hart, has lobbied the EPA.
A woman who answered Hart’s phone on Thursday evening hung up when a CNN reporter identified himself.
Reports last week by ABC News and Bloomberg revealed Pruitt paid about $6,100 over the course of a six-month lease last year. He paid $50 per night, according to the reports, and paid only for the nights he used the condo.
Pruitt defended the lease in a Fox News interview on Wednesday, saying it was cleared by an EPA ethics official. But that official also said in a report obtained by CNN that he was not given all of the facts when making that determination.
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