All the best people

Dear god, these people.

As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

  The Atlantic

Perfect.

In the last week, a member of Pruitt’s press team, Michael Abboud, has been shopping negative stories about Zinke to multiple outlets, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the efforts, as well as correspondence reviewed by The Atlantic.

“This did not happen, and it’s categorically false,” said EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox.

The stories were shopped with the intention of “taking the heat off of Pruitt,” the sources said, in the aftermath of the EPA chief’s punishing congressional hearing last week. They both added, however, that most reporters felt the story was not solid enough to run. On Thursday, Patrick Howley of Big League Politics published a piece on the allegations.

Jesus Christ. Let's have a look, shall we?

Department of the Interior deputy press secretary Alex Hinson is identified as the person responsible for the leaks in the media for negative stories about Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Big League Politics has exclusively learned. These leaks include news that Zinke deleted the term “climate change” from the agency’s five-year plan, a Politico hit piece on the cost of Zinke’s office doors, and an email in which his colleague Heather Swift trashed reporters.

Hinson is collaborating with Kevin Chmielewski, the leaker who is now accusing EPA chief Scott Pruitt of various misdeeds. Hinson and Chmielewski believe they can knock out both Pruitt and Zinke, and they are working with Senate Democrats to pull it off.

Hinson, a 2014 University of Arkansas graduate, is caught up in an elaborate series of events. Hinson lost his government-issued cell phone and now his personal phone, which he uses for government business, is subject to federal government review. That phone contains records of a drug deal, according to an inside source. Hinson has referred to Zinke as an “idiot” at Washington events.

  Big League Politics

Jesus wept.

So...back to the original story:

According to the two sources, Interior staffers who fielded the reporters’ calls were able to ascertain that Abboud, who is a former Trump campaign official, was behind the stories.

  The Atlantic

The campaign toilet still dribbling out sewage.

On Wednesday, a PPO official called top aides at the EPA, “enraged” about Abboud’s efforts, according to a senior EPA official.

[...]

[T]he message from PPO, according to the senior official, was: “Basically, y’all are in trouble.” A White House official with knowledge of the events added: “Absolutely nothing Scott Pruitt did would surprise me.”

Or anyone in this administration.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.