Trump sticks by Pruitt even after reports he met with an accused child abuser

Scott Pruitt has already survived a ton of scandals, and President Trump is still sticking by him even now — after the latest report that Pruitt met with a Catholic cardinal who’s been accused of sexually abusing children.

On Thursday, the New York Times made public documents they’d obtained that showed that during Pruitt’s exorbitantly costly trip to Rome last June, he had dinner with George Pell, an Australian cardinal who happens to be a climate skeptic like Pruitt, to discuss televised debates on climate science. Reports surfaced a year earlier that Pell, the Vatican treasurer and third-highest-ranking member of the Catholic Church, had sexually abused children decades earlier while he was a priest in his home country of Australia.

Three weeks after Pruitt’s visit to Rome, Pell was formally charged in Australian court. Earlier this month, an Australian judge ruled that Pell would stand trial.

The EPA knew about the allegations of sexual misconduct; Pruitt met with him anyway.

Despite all this, Pruitt’s still Trump’s guy — presumably because Pruitt is aggressively pursuing Trump’s deregulatory agenda. When Trump was asked by a journalist Friday during a meeting with car industry CEOs whether he still supports Pruitt, Trump said, “Yes, I do,” and quickly dismissed reporters from the room.

Pell isn’t just controversial because of his alleged sexual abuse. He’s also a vocal climate skeptic.

“CO2 does not destroy the purity of the atmosphere, or make it foul or filthy,” Pell said in a 2011 speech to a climate-skeptical organization, the UK’s Global Warming Policy Foundation. “It is not a pollutant, but part of the stuff of life.” He went on to characterize carbon dioxide as “plant food.”

Pruitt and Pell dined at a $240-a-plate restaurant in Rome, where they discussed Pruitt’s proposed “red team–blue team” debates on climate science, which the White House has since nixed. Their goal would have been to put climate science to a public, possibly televised, debate.

There is no debate on climate science within the scientific community. Ninety seven percent of scientists agree that humans, through greenhouse gas emissions, are altering our climate irrevocably.

Pruitt’s under scrutiny for everything from his dealings with industry lobbyists, his hyper-expensive security detail that has already cost taxpayers some $3 million, and his frequent first-class travel (he’s now vowed to fly coach).

And though Trump won’t say he’s wavering on Pruitt, the scandals have raised some concerns among White House staff.

“The president is pleased with the job that he’s doing as the administrator. However, the issues that have been raised, that I think you guys are all familiar with — they have raised some concerns,” White House spokesperson Raj Shah told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday.