Steven Moore, a top economic advisor to President Donald Trump, thoroughly embarrassed himself trying to claim that EPA chief Scott Pruitt was the victim of some kind of character assassination.
Pruitt, whose scandals have stacked up over the past several months, was brought before a hearing to explain himself Thursday and finally told the truth after lying publicly for weeks. Moore claimed it was nothing more than politics as usual in Washington.
"What's going on in Washington, D.C. in the last couple of months has just been disgraceful," he proclaimed, playing the victim.
All commentator Joan Walsh could do was laugh and shake her head at the hubris.
"Nobody on the left made Scott Pruitt install a $43,000 phone booth, cone-of-silence in his office, Steve," she schooled Moore. "Nobody made him travel first class. Nobody made him first tell [Fox News reporter] Ed Henry one story about a set of pretty extreme raises, and now tell a committee the other story. You had Greg Walden, a conservative Republican, today criticizing Scott Pruitt. Nobody on the left is making him do this. I'm surprised you're taking this tack, because it's as though you can't find a guy who's tough on climate change or pro-drilling who doesn't have these kinds of ethical problems."
Moore than tried to claim that the previous administration was misappropriating buckets of money to take staff to fancy conferences. The so-called "fancy conferences" Moore addressed was the international Paris Climate Accord, attended by nearly every world leader, scientists and their staff.
Walsh explained to Moore that if the previous administration had done anything wrong or even suspected of anything wrong that House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) or House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) would have hauled them into hearing after hearing.
Host Erin Burnett walked through the ethical breaches and overwhelming spending from Pruitt, including a new $70,000 bullet-proof desk for an office that the public doesn't have access to.
The conversation devolved into absolute chaos from there. Watch below:
