{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sarbanes-calls-out-epa-administrator-pruitt-s-conflicts-of-interest-and", "Sarbanes Calls Out EPA Administrator Pruitts Conflicts of Interest and Ethical Lapses [Video]", "2017-12-07", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "MD", "John Sarbanes", "S001168", "sarbanes.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 During a Subcommittee on Environment hearing today, Democracy Reform Task Force Chair Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Md.) questioned EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt about his secret meetings with industry polluters. Below is a written excerpt from their exchange.\nSarbanes: \u201cOn April 26, you met with Southern Power, one of the nation\u2019s largest coal-burning utilities, and had dinner with Alliance Resource Partners, a major coal mining company. Is that also correct?\u201d\nPruitt: \u201cIf that\u2019s what the calendar reflects.\u201d\nSarbanes: \u201cI think that\u2019s what the calendar shows. Since then, the EPA has announced that the agency will consider rolling back rules that protect mining communities from toxic coal ash. An Alliance Resource Partners CEO donated almost $2 million to elect the President.\u201d\n\u201cI\u2019m not mentioning this stuff as a gotcha thing,\u201d Sarbanes continued. \u201cI\u2019m mentioning it because it really makes a lot of Americans anxious when you consider the conflict of interest that this suggests.\u201d \u00a0\nSee below for video of the full exchange.\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://sarbanes.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/sarbanes-calls-out-epa-administrator-pruitt-s-conflicts-of-interest-and"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4313519932329655, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}