Banned For Life From Banking, Kelly Heads Effort To Streamline Superfund

An investigative article in the News York Times concerning EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s ethically questionable record as an Oklahoma legislator, and as that state’s attorney general, references his relationship with banker Albert Kelly, whom Pruitt appointed as a senior adviser at the EPA although he has no experience with environmental issues. Kelly lists motivational speaking and political activity among the core competencies on his resume. Tasked with streamlining the EPA’s Superfund program, he was banned from banking for life by the FDIC two years ago. According to an article in The Intercept, referenced in the Times story, Kelly’s bank helped Pruitt parlay his $34,000 salary as an Oklahoma state senator, plus a $35,000 profit from selling his previous home, into a $605,000 ranch house in a gated community outside Tulsa. Kelly gave Pruitt and his wife three mortgage loans: one for $81,000, another for $359,000, and a third for $533,000. Pruitt’s wife had no reported assets or income at the time. The FDIC gave few details on why Kelly became one of 16 bankers banned from that profession for life in 2016, but he was in need of a job when Pruitt appointed him to the EPA position at annual salary of $172,000.