The Best People

by Alexander Nazaryan

  I reported on Pruitt’s policies and scandals for both Newsweek and Yahoo News, and some of that reporting has found its way into this chapter.

  Accounts of the EPA transition, as well as accounts of the EPA under Pruitt, come from background reporting.

  Robin Bravender’s terrific profile of Pruitt in E&E News, “From ‘The Possum’ to EPA Boss,” served as a guidepost to his background. So did reporting by the Tulsa World, which recognized Pruitt as a public menace long before anyone else did. In particular, I relied on reporting by Ziva Branstetter and Cary Aspinwall.

  CapitolBeatOK’s Patrick B. McGuigan reported on Pruitt’s legal practice, as well as on his early political career.

  I interviewed Tyler Laughlin, a former Pruitt aide, for Newsweek.

  Conversations with Nancy MacLean, the Duke professor who authored Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, informed my understanding of Pruitt’s ties to the Koch network.

  I discussed Pruitt’s religious beliefs with Randall Balmer of Dartmouth and Julie Ingersoll of the University of North Florida, both of whom are experts of the first order in evangelical Christianity and its political implications.

  The career of Dr. Nancy Beck was detailed in Eric Lipton’s “Why Has the E.P.A. Shifted on Toxic Chemicals? An Industry Insider Helps Call the Shots” (New York Times, 10/21/17).

  The Environmental Integrity Project detailed Pruitt’s spending abuses during his first six months in office. I also drew on the work of the Environmental Defense Fund, whose policy experts and lawyers have time and again proved indispensable explainers of what Pruitt was doing, and why.

  The story of LBJ’s “rattlesnake” comes from David Halberstam’s The Best and the Brightest.

  Lisa Friedman, Marina Affo, and Derek Kravitz of the New York Times reported on EPA’s brain drain: “E.P.A. Officials, Disheartened by Agency’s Direction, Are Leaving in Droves” (12/22/17).

  I interviewed Michael Cox for Yahoo News: “The Climate Change ‘Resistance’ Movement Inside the Trump Administration” (12/06/18). His resignation letter was widely shared on social media and in press reports.

  Maxwell Tani of the Daily Beast broke the story of Pruitt’s arrangement with Fox News: “‘Fox & Friends’ Fed Interview Script to Trump’s EPA Chief, Emails Show” (11/27/18).

  I am indebted to Eric Lipton and Lisa Friedman of the New York Times for their reporting on Pruitt’s travel abroad, as well as his attempts to keep those travels secret.

  A former EPA employee sent me an image of “A Year of Great Achievements for Coal, Gas, and Oil Billionaires,” the poster mocking Pruitt that was installed—quite briefly, one imagines—at EPA headquarters.

  Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis of the Washington Post reported on Nino Perrotta’s career. So did Lisa Friedman and Coral Davenport of the New York Times.

  I attended—and reported from—Pruitt’s testimony before a Senate committee in the summer of 2018. Some of the reporting about his abuses comes from that hearing.

  BuzzFeed reporters Zahra Hirji and Jason Leopold sued for the list of threats made against Pruitt, including the doctored Newsweek cover story (“Here Are the Actual Threats Made Against EPA Chief Scott Pruitt,” 05/07/18).

  The Associated Press reported on Pruitt’s condominium lease: “EPA Chief Paid $50 a Night for DC Condo Linked to Lobbyist” (Michael Biesecker and Jonathan Lemire, 03/30/18).

  For a detailed record of Pruitt’s abuses—including using his influence to benefit his daughter McKenna—see “For Pruitt Aides, the Boss’s Personal Life Was Part of the Job,” by Eric Lipton, Steve Eder, Lisa Friedman, and Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times, 06/15/18).

  I reported on the extent of Pruitt’s regulatory rollback for Newsweek.

  I spoke to Betsy Sutherland, a former EPA scientist, for Newsweek.

  My background reporting on Kevin Chmielewski’s turn as a whistleblower indicated that EPA press secretary Jahan Wilcox attempted to discredit Chmielewski by planting stories in the conservative press. At the same time, it became clear that some close to Trump regarded Chmielewski with skepticism, even if they had no love for Pruitt.

  The Environmental Defense Fund analyzed Pruitt’s record as Oklahoma’s attorney general in suing the EPA. I had included the unflattering results of that analysis in my previous reporting on Pruitt.

  On Andrew Wheeler’s use and abuse of social media, see “EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler Engaged with Racist, Conspiratorial Posts on Social Media” (Alexander C. Kaufman, HuffPost, 10/09/18).

  Chapter 12: The Cowboy

  I reported on Zinke’s time at the Department of the Interior for Yahoo News, and some of the sections in the chapter are based on that reporting. I also discussed Zinke’s time as a department chief with several past and present members of the Trump administration.

  Zinke’s unusual press strategy was covered by Elaina Plott of the Atlantic, “A Pruitt Aide’s Attack on Zinke Angers the White House” (05/03/18).

  For coverage of Zinke’s first day at Interior, see “The Interior Secretary, and the Horse He Rode in On” (Matthew Haag, New York Times, 03/02/17).

  The process of Zinke’s selection as Interior’s chief was covered by Amy Harder, then of the Wall Street Journal (“Donald Trump Jr. Played a Key Role in Interior Pick,” 12/15/16).

  For previous instances of corruption at Interior, see Ron Chernow’s Grant, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit and Laton McCartney’s The Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country. I also relied on the public record, including Senate history and, in the case of James Watt, court records, as well as the archives of the New York Times and Washington Post.

  The Washington Post reported on Zinke’s resignation letter (“Interior Secretary Zinke Resigns Amid Investigations,” Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey, and Darryl Fears, 12/15/18).

  For Zinke’s exaggerations regarding his military service, see “Interior Nominee Promotes Navy SEAL Career, While Playing Down ‘Bad Judgment’” (Christopher Drew and Sean D. Naylor, New York Times, 01/16/17). Bailey’s letter critical of Zinke appeared in the Montana Post and remains the most viewed article on that site.

  David Bernhardt was profiled by Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post (“‘The Man Behind the Curtain’: Interior’s No. 2 Helps Drive Trump’s Agenda,” 11/18/18). Some of the other information on Zinke’s political appointees comes from “Department of Influence,” an excellent resource from the Western Values Project.

  Ben Lefebvre of Politico reported on Zinke’s travel to the Virgin Islands: “Interior Reimbursed for Zinke Virgin Island Fund-raiser, but Contributions Unaccounted For” (12/19/17). I also relied on a report by Interior’s inspector general Mary Kendall, which detailed Zinke’s various travel-related indiscretions.

  Celeste Katz, with whom I worked at Newsweek, caught Zinke in his lies regarding the use of a firefighting helicopter over Nevada.

  In addition, see David Choi’s “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Reportedly Spent $6,250 on a Government Helicopter Ride so He Could Go Horseback Riding with Mike Pence” (Business Insider, 12/07/17).

  I reported on Zinke’s push to shrink Utah’s two national monuments for Yahoo News. Aspects of that reporting are included here. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post reported on leaked Interior emails showing a desire to downplay the environmental effects of making those monuments smaller.

  I reported on BLM’s leasing strategy for Yahoo News.

  For an account of the encounter outside of Zinke’s house, see “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Called Police on His Neighbors Monday Night in a Kerfuffle Outside His Capitol Hill Home” (Juliet Eilperin, Darryl Fears, and Lisa Rein, Washington Post, 11/06/18).

  Chapter 13: Attendant Lords

  This chapter includes background material from interviews conducted with former high-ranking staffers at HUD and Treasury.

  Rachel Calnek-Sugin, Chris Hays, and Arya Sundaram wrote about
Mnuchin, Ross, and Carson at Yale in an admirably thorough article for the New Journal, a Yale student publication, in “Yale Men in the Cabinet” (02/16/17).

  Carson’s deceptions were legion, and were accordingly cited by many publications. I relied here on reporting by Kyle Cheney of Politico, who broke the story of Carson’s fictional West Point scholarship, Reid J. Epstein of the Wall Street Journal, and CNN’s Scott Glover and Mae Reston.

  Alec MacGillis of ProPublica conducted an extensive, excellent review of HUD under Ben Carson: “Is Anybody Home at HUD?” (08/22/17).

  Ben Carson’s comments on public housing come from “Don’t Make Housing for the Poor Too Cozy, Carson Warns” (Yamiche Alcindor, New York Times, 05/03/17).

  The story of B. J. Carson and the Baltimore “listening tour” can be found in “‘Using His Position for Private Gain’: Ben Carson Was Warned He Might Run Afoul of Ethics Rules by Enlisting His Son,” by Juliet Eilperin and Jack Gillum (Washington Post, 01/31/18).

  In November, Cleve R. Wootson Jr., of the Washington Post reported on the Detroit charter school that no longer wants to be graced with Carson’s name.

  I spoke to several high-ranking Trump administration officials about Wilbur Ross’s loss of influence.

  Jonathan Swan of Axios also had colorful reporting on Ross in “The Decline and Fall of Wilbur Ross” (01/21/18).

  NPR had an excellent time line of Ross and the citizenship question: “How the 2020 Census Citizenship Question Ended Up in Court” (Hansi Lo Wang, 11/04/18).

  For an explanation of why the citizenship question is so important, please see Michael Li and Eric Petry’s “The Impact of Evenwel: How Using Voters Instead of People Would Dramatically Change Redistricting,” published by the Brennan Center at the New York University School of Law (12/07/15).

  For the “douche in fiduciary” comment, see “Trump’s Fundraiser Eyes the Deal of a Lifetime” (Max Abelson and Zachary Mider, Bloomberg Businessweek, 08/31/16).

  For responses to Mnuchin’s tax plan rollout, see “Treasury Defends Tax Plan Cost with One-Page Analysis” (Alan Rappeport and Jim Tankersley, New York Times, 12/11/17).

  I had previously reported on Steve Mnuchin’s turn as Trump’s main defender in Newsweek; some of that reporting can be found here. I also spoke to several administration officials, both past and current, about his role in the administration.

  Chapter 14: Advancing God’s Kingdom

  I wrote about Betsy DeVos in a Newsweek feature article: “Betsy DeVos Is Coming for Your Public Schools” (01/10/17). This chapter is partly based on reporting for that endeavor.

  For Bill Bennett’s opinions on schooling, see Edward B. Fiske’s “Reagan’s Man for Education,” in the New York Times (12/22/85).

  The Detroit Free Press reported extensively on the backstory of Betsy DeVos. This chapter relies on that newspaper’s archives.

  To gain an understanding of Calvinism, I spoke to Randall Balmer of Dartmouth and Julie Ingersoll of the University of North Florida.

  Philanthropy magazine interviewed DeVos for its spring 2013 issue: “Interview with Betsy DeVos, the Reformer.”

  Mitchell Robinson, a professor at Michigan State, highlighted GLEP’s deceptive advertisements: “Hey, Great Lakes Education Project: Got Integrity?” (10/28/15).

  Kate Zernike wrote of Detroit’s educational morass in “How Trump’s Education Nominee Bent Detroit to Her Will on Charter Schools” (New York Times, 12/12/16). Erin Einhorn of Chalkbeat covered Detroit’s results on the NAEP exam: “Detroit Schools Ranked Worst on National Exam—Again. But Is There Hope That Things Can Improve?” (04/10/18).

  Erica L. Green of the New York Times wrote several excellent articles on DeVos, her nominees, and her policies, including: “2 Education Dept. Picks Raise Fears on Civil Rights Enforcement” (04/04/17); “Some Hires by Betsy DeVos Are a Stark Departure From Her Reputation” (06/02/17); “Education Department Unwinds Unit Investigating Fraud at For-Profits” (05/13/18), with Danielle Ivory and Steve Eder); “Proposed Rules Would Reduce Sexual Misconduct Inquiries, Education Dept. Estimates” (09/19/18).

  Annie Waldman of ProPublica wrote a detailed profile of Candice Jackson: “DeVos Pick to Head Civil Rights Office Once Said She Faced Discrimination for Being White” (04/14/17).

  Jonathan Oosting of the Detroit News wrote about DeVos’s comments at a Republican summit: “DeVos on Mackinac: ‘Washington Knows Best’ Is Over” (09/22/17).

  Michael Stratford of Inside Higher Ed wrote about the Obamas’ debt, “Obamas’ Own Student Debt Topped $40,000 Each” (08/27/13).

  On the career of Robert Eitel, see “Betsy DeVos’s Hiring of For-Profit College Official Raises Impartiality Issues” (Patricia Cohen, New York Times, 03/17/17).

  On the career of Julian Schmoke, see “Trump Administration Selects Former DeVry Official to Lead College Enforcement Unit” (Michael Stratford, Politico, 08/30/17).

  Diana Ali, a policy analyst for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators wrote an excellent primer on Obama’s student loan rules: “What You Need to Know about Borrower Defense to Repayment” (08/09/18).

  Emily Wilkins of Bloomberg Government clearly explained delays in DeVos’s own rulemaking process: “Student Loan, Gainful Employment Rules Delayed, Official Says” (10/02/18).

  Conclusion: Some People

  I reported on the Trump job fair for Yahoo News. For the most part, I chose to simply listen to the conversations around me. This proved far more instructive than asking questions that, it became very quickly apparent, the job seekers did not want to answer.

  Dan Friedman of Mother Jones reported on Matthew Whitaker’s association with World Patent Marketing: “The Acting Attorney General Helped an Alleged Scam Company Hawk Bizarre Products” (11/14/18).

  Rick Perlstein’s The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan contains a superb account of how Ronald Reagan’s “Time for Choosing” speech did far more for him than it did for Barry Goldwater.

  See also “President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Policies: How Reagan Ended the 1980s Recession” (Kimberly Amadeo, The Balance, 01/12/19).