One of Senator Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) Republican challengers, Colonel Rob Maness, has called on her to “produce specific details of each flight” included in the 11 page spreadsheet of “mixed-purpose” charter flights she took between 2002 and 2014 released by her campaign on Friday and described as a “full report.”
“[I]f the Senator refuses to provide full disclosure for these flights,” Maness told Breitbart News in an e-mail on Sunday, “she should immediately refund taxpayers for these ‘mixed-purpose’ chartered flights.”
Breitbart News reported on Saturday that Landrieu’s own press statement on Friday identified 43 such chartered flights she took between 2002 and 2014. The cost of these flights, paid by the taxpayers, was $298,883. Landrieu’s attorney, Marc Elias of the law firm Perkins Coie, informed the Senate Ethics Committee that Landrieu’s campaign sent a check to the U.S. Treasury on Friday in the amount of $33,727, which he determined was the campaign’s pro-rata share of that $298,883.
The total amount paid by taxpayers for these mixed-purpose flights for which Landrieu claims she was not responsible is $265,156.
“President Reagan said it best: ‘trust but verify,'” Maness told Breitbart News. “A disturbing pattern of behavior has emerged where Washington politicians are playing by a different set of rules and holding themselves to a completely different standard.”
“Sen. Landrieu’s excessive abuse of taxpayer dollars for charter planes and luxury retreats reveals just how out of touch she has become and why we can no longer just give the Senator the benefit of the doubt,” Maness added.
“If the internal audit Sen. Landrieu conducted was as exhaustive as we have all been led to believe, she should be able to immediately produce specific details about each flight. Those of us taxpaying Louisianans and Americans who foot the bill have a right to know what was done with our money, and if the Senator refuses to provide full disclosure for these flights, she should immediately refund taxpayers for these ‘mixed-purpose’ chartered flights,” Maness concluded.
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