Confirmation of Pruitt is sketchy

By Leslie Lewis, Henderson

Wednesday, March 8, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Once again Sen. Dean Heller has put loyalty to his party ahead of good governance by voting to confirm Scott Pruitt’s appointment as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. He did this knowing that an Oklahoma judge ordered the release of about 3,000 emails concerning Pruitt’s communications with oil and gas companies whose regulation he will now oversee.

What would have been the harm in waiting for the emails to be released? Given the Republican Party’s control of the Senate, Pruitt certainly would have been confirmed after the release. Is this another example of the “transparency” that Donald Trump and his party have promised?

I can imagine only one reason for this rush to confirm: There is something in those emails that the party did not wish the public to see. If Heller has a better explanation, I urge him to make it public so his constituents can better understand his vote.