lobbyist representing clients regulated by the EPA. Politico described Hewitt as "one of Pruitt's staunchest defenders". Hewitt described the numerous ethics scandals facing Pruitt as "nonsense scandals" and argued that Pruitt's critics were "just trying to stop the deregulation effort". Hewitt argued that the top EPA ethics official had approved Pruitt's rental arrangement and that it therefore did not constitute a gift. Richard Painter, ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, argued against Hewitt, saying it was a "violation of the gift rules, and no ethics lawyer could cover that up". Hewitt has argued that media coverage of Pruitt has been "hyperpartisan". In an interview with Pruitt, Hewitt said "I know you are not a climate denier"; Pruitt rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. After Pruitt resigned amid a dozen separate ethics investigations, Hewitt defended Pruitt, saying he "is a good friend and a very good man, caricatured by left and MSM. I hope he sets to work on a memoir ASAP and deals out a tenth of what he took." The conflict of interest is that Hugh Hewitt's son, James, is a political appointee working under Pruitt. In May 2018, it was reported that Pruitt had personally prioritized a polluted Orange County site for immediate and intense clean-up via long-term federal clean-up funding after Hewitt had brokered a December 2017 meeting between Pruitt and a legal firm representing the polluted district. The EPA did not disclose the meeting; it was revealed after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Hewitt lived in Orange County for over two decades before relocating to Virginia in 2015; he is employed by the law firm. After the meeting, Hewitt would frequently defend Pruitt amid a number of ethics scandals. Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor at The Washington Post, where Hewitt is a contributing columnist, said that he was "disturbed" by the reports of Hewitt's undisclosed ties, and that Hewitt would not write on issues related to the EPA again. MSNBC gave Hewitt a verbal warning after he failed to disclose the EPA meeting to viewers of his MSNBC show. CNN Debate Hewitt was booed during a CNN debate in 2015 for his controversial questioning of presidential candidate Ben Carson. He asked whether Carson was capable of ordering "ruthless" military strikes that could kill thousands of innocent children. Following Carson's initial answer to the question, Hewitt asked Carson to confirm whether he