--- title: Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for EPA Work description: Trump's former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt repeatedly used a private email account for work. canonical: https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-08T17:39:34.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:13:54.932Z article:section: Politics og:title: Former EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for Work: Report og:description: Pruitt left office in July under pressure over revelations about his spending og:url: https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fbf9aade5eb4f/6989411cbc6cfc800d3e7aae/scott-pruitt-private-email-work.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: cott-pruitt-private-email-work og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Former EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for Work: Report twitter:description: Pruitt left office in July under pressure over revelations about his spending twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fbf9aade5eb4f/6989411cbc6cfc800d3e7aae/scott-pruitt-private-email-work.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for Work: Report by [Alan Levin / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alan Levin / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 8, 2018 5:39 PM UTC  Then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, on June 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. Pruitt reportedly used his private email account for work while working in the Trump Administration. Then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, on June 8, 2018 in Washington, DC. Pruitt reportedly used his private email account for work while working in the Trump Administration.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Alan Levin / Bloomberg](https://time.com/author/bloomberg/) ## Alan Levin / Bloomberg Contributor Dec 8, 2018 5:39 PM UTC (Bloomberg)—The scandal-plagued former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt repeatedly used a private email account for work in violation of rules, the Guardian reported. Pruitt becomes the latest official from the Trump administration to allegedly use a non-government email account for official business in spite of President Donald Trump frequently citing similar accusations against Democrat Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign. Pruitt left office in July under pressure over revelations about his spending, travel and an unorthodox condo rental. He used a private email account for work over a period of months, the Guardian said, citing records provided to the Sierra Club, an environmental group. The emails were forwarded to his government account on the day he resigned. The EPA didn’t respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment. The president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, sent hundreds of emails on a private account — including some to government officials — that were related to her job as an assistant to her father in the White House. The emails were reported in November by the Washington Post after White House officials discovered them while responding to a public records request. Using personal accounts rather than government email can be a way to shield messages from official records and is also less secure. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/"},"headline":"Former EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for Work: Report","datePublished":"2018-12-08T17:39:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:13:54.932Z","description":"Pruitt left office in July under pressure over revelations about his spending","url":"https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/","keywords":["White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fbf9aade5eb4f/6989411cbc6cfc800d3e7aae/scott-pruitt-private-email-work.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alan Levin / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5b1fbf9aade5eb4f/6989411cbc6cfc800d3e7aae/scott-pruitt-private-email-work.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"cott-pruitt-private-email-work","caption":"EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Addresses Faith And Freedom Coalition Conf.","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5474795/former-epa-chief-private-email-work/","name":"Former EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Used a Private Email Account for Work: Report"}}]}] ```