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Scott Pruitt says security "incidents" made him fly first class again

Scott Pruitt flew first-class on Tuesday — again.

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt isn’t easily deterred.

Just days after reports of his unusually high spending on travel came to light, Pruitt flew first-class on Tuesday on his way to Manchester, New Hampshire. In an interview with a local paper, Pruitt confirmed earlier reports of his ritzy travel accommodations that morning and justified them as the result of threats to his security.

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“Unfortunately, … we’ve had some incidents on travel dating back to when I first started serving in the March-April timeframe," he told the New Hampshire Union Leader. "We live in a very toxic environment politically, particularly around issues of the environment."

Pruitt, who also met with Gov. Chris Sununu while in the state, said the decision about his first-class travel wasn’t his and came from other parts of the agency because of security threats.

The EPA, however, has not elaborated on what those threats are, although Pruitt does have a round-the-clock security detail. “We do not comment on the security threats that have been made against Administrator Pruitt,” EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox told VICE News in an email.

That detail cost over $800,000 during Pruitt’s first three months as EPA chief, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by E&E News. That’s more than double what it cost to protect his predecessors.

Pruitt spent $90,000 on taxpayer-funded travel in June of last year, which included a $37,000 flight on a military jet and several first-class flights, the Washington Post reported on Sunday. Those expenses, according to the Post, don’t include costs for Pruitt’s security detail, which the EPA won’t disclose.

Still, Pruitt’s EPA has spared no expense to guard the administrator’s security. In March, the agency reportedly spent $3,000 to sweep his office for covert listening devices. The agency spend $6,000 to install biometric locks on his office’s door, according to the Associated Press. And his office is under investigation for its purchase of a $25,000 soundproof booth.

“We’ve had some incidents on travel dating back to when I first started serving in the March-April timeframe,” Pruitt also told the Union Leader on Tuesday.