Firm discloses more EPA lobbying by advocate with ties to Pruitt condo rental

A lobbyist whose wife rented a condo to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt lobbied the agency for three clients last year, apparently contradicting his claim that he hadn’t represented clients at the EPA during the Trump administration, according to new disclosure forms filed by his former employer.

J. Steven Hart, who formerly served as the chairman of law and lobbying firm Williams & Jensen, advocated at the EPA for Coca-Cola, the Financial Oversight and Management Control Board of Puerto Rico and Smithfield Foods.

The first two clients have not been previously reported, and the new forms suggest that there was more work done on behalf of Smithfield Foods than was previously known.

“I do not lobby the EPA. I have had no lobbying contact with the EPA in 2017 or 2018,” Hart told E&E News in March.

Hart stepped down in April, primarily because of the fallout from the apartment rental to Pruitt. His departure from the firm came just hours before routine lobbying disclosures mentioned that he had contacted the EPA on behalf of Smithfield Foods, which has been a client of Williams & Jensen since 2001.

Williams & Jensen then hired outside counsel, Jan Baran at Wiley Rein, to comb through its disclosure filings from 2017 and 2018, in addition to Hart's calendar and communications, to make sure the forms accurately reflected the scope of Hart’s work for clients.

After that review, Baran advised Williams & Jensen to file a total of 14 amendments to Hart’s forms spanning all of last year and the first three months of 2018, according to disclosures sent to the Senate on Friday.

http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/390344-firm-discloses-more-epa-lobbying-by-advocate-with-ties-to-pruitt?userid=229233
Lobbyists submit reports on their work and how much they earn from clients every three months.