"Pruitt Defends Soundproof Phone Booth, Contact With Green Groups"

"U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt this week justified his purchase of a $25,000 soundproof phone booth by explaining the difficultly of making "secure" phone calls at the agency's Washington headquarters.

Pruitt told The Washington Post in an interview from his office on the third floor of EPA's headquarters that it's a lengthy trek to the building's lower quarters where he can get privacy.

He told the reporter, "I didn't have a secure phone in this office to have the conversations that sometimes need to be secure. And it's kind of hard to tell someone that's reaching out that, to have a confidential, secure conversation, I've got to go down two floors, and over two levels, and I'll call you back.""

Hannah Northey and Amanda Reilly report for Greenwire November 17, 2017.