Burgergate: Ethics expert questions Trump EPA chief's bizarre perk of $2,000 in 'free burgers' a month

Andrew Wheeler, the former coal lobbyist tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency following the ignominious departure of Scott Pruitt, is suddenly caught up in a uniquely delicious, juicy ethics controversy.

On Friday, Wheeler's financial report was released. And Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and OpenSecrets researcher Anna Massoglia flagged a bizarre perk he was getting: up to $2,000 per month in free hamburgers from a popular Washington, D.C. restaurant called Lucky Buns:

As it turns out, Wheeler has been frequently promoting Lucky Buns on his Twitter account as well:

The restaurant, for its part, offers a seemingly innocent explanation: Wheeler was an early investor two years ago, and the free burgers are a perk the chain offers to all investors. Lucky Buns also brushes off accusations that their association with Wheeler in any way reflects on their ecological mission and corporate citizenship: "Andrew is an investor, not a partner in our business."

But $2,000 per month is a weirdly ridiculous amount worth of free burgers to be allowed to consume. Is Wheeler allowed to host dinner parties there, perhaps? Or did the restaurant just set the figure at well above an amount any normal human would eat to effectively make it free burgers for life?

And for what it's worth, former Office of Government Ethics director Walter Shaub has more questions about this whole arrangement, starting with the fact that the two-year timeline doesn't add up:

Compared to Pruitt's wild romps of taxpayer theft, retaliation, and abuse of power, "Burgergate" is a relatively tame affair so far. Nevertheless, the American people deserve assurances that nothing unsavory happened in this arrangement.  Let's hope the Democrats grill him.