Perry Spent $60,000 In Campaign Cash For Wife To Accompany Him On Official Travel

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Energy Secretary Rick Perry used around $60,000 from his former campaign fund in Texas to pay for his wife, Anita Perry, to travel with him on official business, Bloomberg reported.

Perry’s old funding committee — Texans for Rick Perry — bankrolled flights for Anita Perry to travel to places like Paris, Vienna, Rome and Cape Town with her husband, according to financial disclosures obtained by the Texas Ethics Commission and reviewed by Bloomberg.

While it is not illegal in Texas to use campaign money to pay for travel, it is widely considered unethical, Bloomberg noted.

A Department of Energy spokesperson defended the spending to Bloomberg.

“Mrs. Perry has traveled with Secretary Perry on occasion, adding valuable support to him as he advances DOE’s mission abroad,” a Department of Energy spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement. “As these filings confirm, no taxpayer dollars have been spent on Mrs. Perry’s air travel and funding for it is authorized under State and Federal laws and regulations.”

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Notable Replies

  1. She doesn’t trust him on his own?

  2. While it is not illegal in Texas to use campaign money to pay for travel, it is widely considered unethical, Bloomberg noted.

    Evidently it's not so widely accepted as unethical that laws are enacted to make it illegal. What he did is legal. You don't like it, formally bar the practice. We are a nation of laws, not pseudo-laws. I'm not even sure why articles are done implying someone is shady yet they haven't broken the law. Why not write an article about the lack of laws barring unethical behaviors?
  3. Disgusting. But, I guess, IOKIYAR. Right?

  4. Avatar for 1gg 1gg says:

    "While it is not illegal in Texas to use campaign money to pay for travel, it is widely considered unethical,’’’’
    Ethics and the GOP? Please stop you’re killing me!

  5. The initials of the mole who brought attention to this issue are AP.

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