Sen. Claire McCaskill’s (D-MO) private plane problems continue as a conservative watchdog group requests a Senate Ethics Committee probe into the income she has reported from her husband’s private plane, according to a Thursday Politico report.
The Republican watchdog, Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), is claiming that McCaskill reported between $0 and $201 of income from her husband’s plane, which her office previously said was chartered for outside use.
FACT claims that the plane has traveled 40,000 miles in the last year, which would equate to “more than $200 in income for the aircraft owner,” which McCaskill did not report. Per Politico, McCaskill shot back that the disclosure forms are asking for total net profits not gross revenues, and since the plane long operated at a loss, it has not made enough money to surpass that deficit.
Republicans are trying to use the plane debacle to wound McCaskill in her reelection campaign against GOP challenger Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley.
“Hawley and his friends are desperate to distract from the fact that he supports ripping health care protections away from 2.5 million Missourians and refuses to stand up for Missouri farmers in the President’s trade war,” a McCaskill spokesperson said.
McCaskill’s plane came back into public consciousness when she used it as an additional method of transportation on her RV campaign tour.