Benton serving as Trump’s eyes and ears, annoying some

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The White House is installing political aides to serve as “Trump’s eyes and ears,” according to a story in the Washington Post.

“The political appointee charged with keeping watch over Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides has offered unsolicited advice so often that after just four weeks on the job, Pruitt has shut him out of many staff meetings, according to two senior administration officials,” is how the Washington Post article opens.

Turns out they are talking about Vancouver’s own Don Benton, former Washington state legislator and director of environmental services with Clark County.

(The full article talks about several different agencies,  you can check it out here.)

But back to Benton, the article continues, “Elsewhere, resentment has built up. Pruitt is bristling at the presence of former Washington state senator Don Benton, who ran the president’s Washington state campaign and is now the EPA’s senior White House adviser, said two senior administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.”

“These officials said Benton piped up so frequently during policy discussions that he had been disinvited from many of them. One of the officials described the situation as akin to an episode of the HBO comedy series ‘Veep.”’