When he returned . . . Pruitt seemed deeply shaken: Senior EPA official speaking on background, interview by author, 2018.
Pruitt’s new leadership team . . . loyalists from Oklahoma: Schnare, former Pruitt staffer speaking on background, two senior EPA officials speaking on background, interviews by author, 2017–18.
There were other problems with Pruitt: Schnare, interviews by author, 2018; Harvard Law School Regulatory Rollback Tracker database, 2018.
Pruitt attended a ceremony . . . where he introduced President Trump: Video of Rose Garden press conference taken from C-Span archive.
The withdrawal . . . conformed with Charles Koch’s views: Evan Osnos, “Trump vs. the Deep State,” New Yorker, May 21, 2018.
it wasn’t clear how effective Pruitt was: Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis, “Amid Ethics Scrutiny, EPA’s Pruitt Also Finds His Regulatory Rollbacks Hitting Bumps,” Washington Post, May 20, 2018.
In July of 2018, Pruitt resigned: Coral Davenport, Lisa Friedman, and Maggie Haberman, “EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Resigns Under a Cloud of Ethics Scandals,” New York Times, July 5, 2018; carbon, parts per million in atmosphere, taken from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration database.
Koch’s political network . . . touted two big achievements that year: Koch seminar group memo: “Efforts in Government: Advancing Principled Public Policy.” This memo is undated and was first revealed by Lee Fang and Nick Surgey, “Koch Document Reveals Laundry List of Policy Victories Extracted from the Trump Administration,” Intercept online, last modified February 25, 2018.
Inside the Trump administration, there was disdain for Charles Koch: Source speaking on background, interviews by author, 2017–18; Robert Draper, “Trump vs. Congress: Now What?,” New York Times Magazine, March 26, 2017.
the Trump administration and the Koch network were like opposing chess players: James Hohmann and Matea Gold, “Koch Network to Spend $300 Million to $400 Million on Politics, Policy in 2018 Cycle,” Washington Post, January 28, 2017.
The Koch network maximized its influence: Lisa Mascaro, “Vice President Mike Pence Stops In for an Unscheduled Chat with Billionaire Charles Koch,” Baltimore Sun, June 24, 2017; Kenneth P. Vogel and Eliana Johnson, “Trump’s Koch Administration,” Politico online, last modified November 28, 2016; John Frank, “Koch Brothers’ Conservative Network to Hold Retreat in Colorado Springs This Weekend,” Denver Post, June 23, 2017.
Koch traveled to Palm Springs: Video of Charles Koch speech provided by Koch Industries, “Charles Koch: Opening Remarks (Palm Springs 2018),” video, 3:29, uploaded to YouTube by the Seminar Network on January 28, 2018.
CHAPTER 25: CONTROL
Charles Koch’s family compound in Wichita: Notes and photographs from reporting trip to Koch Industries headquarters and entryway to Charles Koch’s office, 2018; descriptions of Charles Koch’s office and the view from his desk taken from notes and photos taken in, 2015.
the business leaders from Koch’s various divisions came . . . to report to Charles Koch: Packebush, Feilmeier, Hall, Markel, Koch Industries employees and executives speaking on background, interviews by author, 2013–18.
as he listened to the division heads make their presentations: See previous endnotes. Georgia-Pacific profits taken from interview with Jim Hannan, 2016.
Koch’s beliefs would have been validated in another way: Current and former Koch Industries employees and executives, interviews by author, 2013–18.
Invista, for example, was deeply troubled: Former Koch Industries executive speaking on background, interviews by author, 2018; notes and photos taken at Invista headquarters, 2018; “Plant Shut-Downs, Closings & Layoffs Profile—Invista,” taken from Nexis database, “Plant Shut-Downs, Closings & Layoffs,” November 27, 2017; Thad Moore, “In Winnsboro, One of South Carolina’s Oldest Surviving Textile Mills May Close,” Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), August 20, 2017; Casey White, “On the Chopping Block,” Shelby Star (NC), July 19, 2017; “New Owner for Derry Lycra Plant,” Irish News (Belfast, Ire.), October 31, 2017; Mike Pare, “Kordsa Slated to Acquire City’s Invista Plant,” Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN), April 1, 2017.
The economy itself was shaky: Analysis based on general reporting by the author during 2018.
Charles and David Koch were worth a combined $4.7 billion: “The Billionaires 1991,” Fortune, September 9, 1991; all Charles and David Koch net worth figures are taken from Forbes’ list of the four hundred richest people and billionaires, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2016, 2018; existence of shadow stock confirmed by current and former Koch Industries employees.
This ownership structure . . . reflected the US economy: Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman, “Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Data,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 131, no. 2 (May 1, 2016): 519–78; Christina M. Gibson-Davis and Christine Percheski, “Children and the Elderly: Wealth Inequality Among America’s Dependents,” Demography 55, no. 3 (June 2018): 1009–32.
American labor market resembled the labor market inside Kochland: Analysis based on reporting cited in earlier chapters.
This disparity . . . reflected the disparity in political power: Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, “Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens,” Perspectives on Politics 12, no. 3 (September 2014): 564–81.
Koch Industries was overhauled in the most significant restructuring since 2000: Koch Industries executive speaking on background, interview by author, 2018; Daniel McCoy, “CEOs of Georgia-Pacific and Flint Hills Resources Take On Larger Roles Within Koch Industries,” Wichita Business Journal, March 3, 2017; “Fischer Named GP CEO, Hannan to Assume New Role,” press release, Georgia-Pacific, March 2, 2017; Jim Hannan executive bio, Koch Industries newsroom, 2017; Brad Razook, executive bio, Koch Industries Newsroom, 2017.
If any of these men became CEO, however: Analysis based on Chase Koch, Koch Industries executive speaking on background, interviews by author, 2018; descriptions of Koch Disruptive Technologies offices taken from notes and photos during reporting trip, 2018.
Charles Koch sent his son a small folder of old papers: Chase Koch, interview by author, 2018; photo of undated note from Charles Koch to Chase Koch.
If Charles Koch found meaning . . . seemed to derive largely from the “book project”: Rudd, Koch Industries executive speaking on background, interviews by author, 2018.