Hillary Fudged On Reporting Travel Expenses ($300K)

Source: Fox
Published: 9/28/00

First Lady Fudged Campaign Travel Costs

Thursday, September 28, 2000

A flight Hillary Clinton took on a government plane last December has shown up on the radar of a Republican congressman, who said Thursday that U.S. taxpayers may be footing the bill for the First Lady's New York Senate campaign.

Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), chairman of the House Treasury and Postal Subcommittee on Appropriations, accused the White House of providing his panel with incomplete information on the First Lady's campaign travel.

According to a new report Kolbe's panel received from the White House Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton's campaign under-reported $300,000 in expenses, costs for which the government has not been reimbursed by the Clinton's campaign.

Most disturbing, Kolbe said, was the discovery of a Dec. 22, 1999 flight the First Lady made from Washington, D.C., to Syracuse, N.Y., accompanied by New York State Assemblyman Michael Bragman and his family. Earlier reports to the committee did not include the December 22nd Syracuse stop and only listed one political passenger on the trip.

The new report also exposed the fact that the First Lady is not only traveling on C-20 aircrafts as originally reported. On November 4th, Clinton flew with the White House photographer and a trip coordinator on a C-32 — comparable to a commercial 757 — to California and Las Vegas at a cost of $123,000.

The report said the campaign reimbursed $3,723 of those expenses, while the taxpayer paid about $120,000 for the trip.

At Kolbe's insistence, since May of this year, the White House has been submitting monthly reports on the First Lady's campaign travel to the Committee.

Kolbe, however, became concerned about discrepancies reported in the press about the First Lady's use of government aircraft for her New York Senate campaign. On Sept. 20, Kolbe and House Appropriations Chairman Bill Young sent the White House a letter requesting more information.

The new report, which admits the White House under-reported air travel costs by nearly $300,000, was submitted in response to that request.

"When it comes to the First Lady's travel costs, the White House is providing my committee with incomplete, inaccurate, and sloppy data, which is full of errors," Kolbe said. "It is only after they are caught in their own lies that the truth comes to light."

The White House made 28 changes to flight hours, five changes to destinations, and failed to account for seven trips, Kolbe said. The White House also admitted to hiring contractors with special auditing skills to work on the travel reports.

"We've simply asked for trip manifests, why in the world would the White House need special outside auditors?" asked Kolbe. "They must be doing more down there than compiling reports."

"At best, this is an example of bureaucratic incompetence. At worst, it's an attempt to cover up the true cost to taxpayers," Kolbe said. "I've lost confidence that any information I'm receiving is accurate."

The $300,000 error brings the total First Lady airplane operating costs to $1.515 million. So far, her campaign has reimbursed just $203,700, the balance coming out of tax dollars.

HENCH adds: Make the b!tch pay for it out her OWN POCKET, and then throw her in jail just like they did Dan Rostenkowski. That'll teach her @$$!

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