NYT: Pruitt Bought Home, Did Not Disclose It To State

A new report on former Attorney General Scott Pruitt suggests he may have violated state ethics rules while he was a state lawmaker.

According to the New York Times, he bought a home in the historic Lincoln Terrace neighborhood from a prominent lobbyist and hid it in a shell company without telling the state.

This is all detailed in a front page story about the scandal-plagued EPA administrator in this past weekend's New York Times 

The house belonged to a lobbyist for Southwestern Bell, now AT&T. According to the Times, Pruitt bought the house for $100,000 less than it's value and furnished it with expensive items like art, an antique rug and a dining set. 

The mortgage for the house was filed under the shell company Capitol House LLC and was registered to Pruitt's then-business partner Kenneth Wagner.

Wagner now has a job as a top EPA aide. None of Pruitt's financial disclosures to the state mentioned the house or the shell company, potentially violating Oklahoma law. 

Things don't stop there. The mortgage for the house was financed through the former Spirit Bank owner Albert Kelly. Kelly was recently barred from the finance industry for life after being cited for banking violations. Kelly also has a job now along side Pruitt at the EPA.

All of this comes as Pruitt is increasingly under fire for spending money on high priced travel, lavish spending on office upgrades and a multi-million dollar security detail.