Pruitt: ‘A Lie Doesn’t Become Truth Just Because It Appears on the Front Page of the Newspaper’

EXCERPT:

PRUITT: "However, as I sit before you today, I recognize there have been very troubling media reports over the past few weeks. I promise you that I, more than anyone, want to establish hard facts and provide answers to questions surrounding these reports. Let me be very clear. I have nothing to hide as it relates to how I've run the agency for the past 16 months. I'm not afraid to admit that there has been a learning process. And when Congress or independent bodies of oversight find fault in our decision-making, I want to correct that and ensure that it does not happen again. Ultimately, as the administrator of EPA, the responsibility for identifying and making changes necessary rests with me and no one else. With that being said, facts are facts and fiction is fiction. And a lie doesn't become true just because it appears on the front page of the newspaper. Much of what has been targeted towards me and my team has been half-truths, or at best, stories that have been so twisted they did not resemble reality. And I'm here, and I welcome the chance to be here, to set the record straight in these areas. And let's have no illusions about what's really going on here. Those who attacked the EPA and attacked me are doing so because they want to attack and derail the President's agenda and undermine this administration's priorities. I'm simply not going to let that happen."