WaPo: Pruitt spent nearly $68,000 for recent travel

The documents, which were requested by House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy and obtained by the Post, reportedly show that Pruitt traveled on government business dozens of time on first-class and domestic flights from August 2017 through February 2018.

The reported expenses include a four-day, $17,631 trip to Morocco in December, a series of first-class flights following Hurriciane Harvey totaling $3,330, and a two-day domestic trip for media interviews and a visit to Florida that amounted to $3,767. Pruitt's travel expenses listed in the records reportedly do not include the costs of his security team or aides who travel with him.

The EPA justified the travel spending as necessary to ensure Pruitt's security.

"EPA's Protective Service Detail identified specific ongoing threats associated with Administrator Pruitt's travel and shifted his class based on certain security protocols that require him to be near the front of the plane," said Jahan Wilcox, a spokesperson for the agency.

Previously, CNN reported that from June through August 2017, the EPA justified several expensive charter flights for Pruitt -- including a $14,000 bill for a business trip around his home state.

In late August, the EPA inspector general announced it would investigate Pruitt's travel practices. Since beginning the probe, the IG has twice expanded its scope, which now encompasses all of Pruitt's 2017 taxpayer-funded travel.

Other Trump administration Cabinet secretaries have attracted scrutiny of their travel spending, including Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, who resigned after using private planes for multiple government business trips.