Scott Pruitt, once too corrupt even for the GOP, is running for the Senate.

There was once a time in American politics that being forced to resign as a Cabinet Secretary for corruption, cronyism, venality, and expense-padding would have been a political career killer. Scott Pruitt, Trump's first EPA Administrator, hopes that time has passed. The once disgraced opportunist has filed papers declaring his candidacy to replace retiring Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)

In an administration as ethically deficient as Trump’s, it is perhaps easy to forget some of the early grift and dishonesty. From day one lying about the Inauguration crowd size, to Mike Flynn’s 22-day term as the National Security Advisor, the administration started as it ended, in a mephitic miasma of moral turpitude and criminality. Scott Pruitt was as industrious at adding to the administration’s degeneracy as any other Trump functionary. For 1½ years, he used his position to enrich himself, his family, and his friends while pissing on America’s environment — the very thing his job was supposed to protect. (A role literally spelled out in his job title)

Where Pruitt’s interests lay were no mystery to anyone, including his new boss. Trump looked at Pruitt’s record and realized that the man was a perfect fit for his war on the planet. Pruitt was a climate-change denier. In 2010, in one of his first acts as the Oklahoma Attorney General, he shut down the Environmental Protection Unit in the AG's office. As OK AG he was joined at the hip with Oklahoma’s fossil-fuel power companies. And he sued the EPA 13 times. He sued to overturn Obamacare. He sued California for banning eggs from caged chickens. And he sued Colorado for legalizing pot.

In DC, Pruitt immediately started working to benefit his patrons in the fossil-fuel industry. He hollowed out the EPA by eliminating positions, leaving others vacant, and slashing its budget. And he prevented the agency from pursuing its law enforcement mandates. (As the point of this diary is to enumerate Pruitt’s personal deficiencies, I will not go into detail about his disastrous job performance — but this is a useful synopsis: “The Ten Worst Things Scott Pruitt’s EPA Has Already Done”)

In concert with his antithetical job performance, Pruitt proved to be a shameless grifter. I suspect many people have purloined a pen or two during their careers, but the level of Pruitt’s abuse was breathtaking. Breaking cabinet precedent, he regularly flew first or business class. And he used private jets and military aircraft at nosebleed taxpayer expense. His excuse was that it was for security. Which was rendered a lie as he always flew coach when he had to pay for his ticket. He also flew Delta even if there was a cheaper alternative as he wanted that airline's miles.

Pruitt broke the rules when he ordered a $25,000 soundproof telephone booth for his office without notifying Congress or the President as required by law. Note: it ultimately cost $43,000 with installation included.

By September 2017, he had increased his security detail to 18 people by seconding agents whose real job was investigating environmental crimes. Pruitt justified what eventually amounted to the almost $5 million (including $1,500 on ‘tactical pants’) spent on his security by claiming he was under threat. But an internal investigation showed no such thing. And to date, no one has been arrested or charged for threats against Pruitt.

In 2017, Pruitt took a five-day trip to Morrocco to promote the sale of Liquified Natural Gas. This is odd as fossil-fuel sales are not an EPA function. And somehow the journey from Morocco back to the US necessitated a weekend layover in Paris. The trip was arranged by a lobbyist, Richard Smotkin, who had known Pruitt in Oklahoma. The Moroccan government subsequently hired Smotkin as a $40,000 a month lobbyist.

Pruitt rented a DC townhouse condominium for $50 a night, where his daughter also stayed for free. This was about 33% of the market rate. The condominium's owners were a pair of lobbyists, Vicki and Steven Hart. The Harts represented six companies doing business with the EPA.

Pruitt also took care of his friends. He had requested the White House grant substantial raises for two aides he had brought from Oklahoma (one from $107,435 to $164,200 and the other from $86,460 to $114,590). When the WH turned him down, he did it anyway using an obscure provision of the Safe Drinking Water Act. Pruitt denied responsibility and said he knew nothing about it. Bullshit. Pruitt also hired a disgraced Oklahoma banker, Albert Kelly, to head the Superfund program, which tackled the largest contaminated industrial sites. Kelly, whose salary was $172,100, had zero environmental experience and had just received a lifetime ban from banking.

And Pruitt took care of his family. He dispatched three E.P.A. staff members to help his daughter, McKenna, obtain a summer internship at the White House. Pruitt also had an aide, Sydney Hupp, a former scheduler, contact Chick-fil-A’s chief executive, Dan T. Cathy, in May 2017 at Mr. Pruitt’s behest to set up a meeting. The meeting was to discuss Chuck-fil-A granting his wife a franchise.

For a long time, Pruitt enjoyed Trump’s support. His evisceration of the EPA was so enthusiastic that the Conman-in-Chief was willing to overlook some ‘irregularities’. But finally, the stench penetrated even the White House, and Pruitt resigned. But like the madman in a horror movie franchise, he is back. Can he win? I would not bet against it.