If Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) thought returning the $88,000 in taxpayer money she spent on flights aboard a private plane she owns a piece of would make the scandal go away, the Missouri Republican Party would like to inform her she’s got another thing coming.
The party clearly smells blood in the water, and they’ve filed a formal ethics complaint against McCaskill — a top GOP target in 2012 — to make sure the story stays around for a least a little while longer.
As first reported by Politico last week, McCaskill sent the U.S. Treasury $88,000 after an investigation by the paper into her state travel found she “spent nearly $76,000 in public funds since 2007 to fly on a charter plane she co-owns with her husband and other investors.”
McCaskill denies any wrongdoing and her office says neither she nor her husband made a dime from the use of the aircraft, which the Senator used mostly to crisscross her homestate. McCaskill ponied up the $88,000 “to cover all costs associated with the flights,” according to Politico.
The state GOP says that’s an example of too little, too late. Plus, they say they’ve got evidence that the flights broke ethics rules.
“You know, it’s a little suspicious,” state GOP executive director Lloyd Smith said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning. “One time my son ate all the Oreo cookies out of the cookie jar and until I started asking questions about who ate the cookies, he wasn’t compelled to go the corner grocery and buy a replacement.”
Smith said McCaskill thought her $88,000 check “would squelch any further investigation.” But after more reporting on the trips found one of the flights was to a 2007 Democratic party political meeting in Hannibal, MO — a “purely political event,” according to Smith — the GOP pounced.
Senate ethics rules say members can book charter flights (even on planes they own) for official purposes. But the 2007 Hannibal trip wouldn’t fall under that rule, according to the Republicans. McCaskill has already repaid the money for the flight, and her staff has said she’s “embarrassed by this mistake.”
She may have to answer more questions about it, however. Today, the Missouri GOP filed a formal ethics complaint against McCaskill over the Hannibal flight, calling on Senate Ethics Committee leaders Sens. Johnny Isaakson (R-GA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) to investigate the trip and other aspects of her spending on private flights.
Read the formal complaint here.
Back when the questions over the air travel were first raised by Politico, McCaskill’s spokesperson told the paper that everything about the trips was above-board, even the price.
“Sen. McCaskill has been very careful flying on taxpayer dollars. She has averaged a fraction of the cost of chartered air travel in Missouri compared to [Republican Senators from Missouri],” Maria Speiser said. “She has only paid for the use of her plane as required by the Senate rules, and there has been no profit to her or her family. She’s glad there’s transparency – that’s why people can see this information.”
