White House chief of staff John Kelly told Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt that President Trump wanted him to step down before confirming his resignation on Thursday, Bloomberg reported Friday.
Sources told Bloomberg that Pruitt had no intention of resigning and was surprised and devastated by the request.
Kelly’s ask came after reports that Pruitt’s staff would “scrub” events from his calendar before making the entries public — according to Bloomberg, the revelation embarrassed Trump, ultimately prompting him to call for Pruitt’s resignation.
The reported “secret” calendars could be in violation of the Federal Records Act, adding to the more than a dozen allegations that Pruitt violated ethical or spending standards while serving as EPA administrator.
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One source told Bloomberg that Trump was also embarrassed by reports that Pruitt enlisted an aide to help him obtain a used mattress from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The New York Times reported Thursday that Trump had been privately floating the idea of Pruitt’s resignation for months, frequently being encouraged by top advisers to dismiss the embattled EPA head.
The president also was reportedly embarrassed by a CNN report Tuesday that Pruitt had asked Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and temporarily appoint him to lead the Justice Department, according to the Times.
Pruitt resigned on Thursday after facing months of mounting ethical scandals and federal investigations. Trump announced the resignation on Twitter.
Trump disputed that Pruitt was asked to resign, telling reporters on Thursday that the decision “was very much up to him.”