Skift Take
The Republican senators are making big claims based off limited documentation, even though when broken down the board members’ travel expenses look like standard business travel rates.
Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) released an investigative report on Brand USA, the government-sponsored travel promotion agency, on Thursday and found inappropriate activity.
The new report examined documents that showed questionable accounting, lavish spending and lobbying violations. The report found that top officials threw parties in London and enjoyed luxury baseball suites courtesy of taxpayer-funded Amtrak and violated other lobbying rules.
“It is immoral to ask the federal government to shell out $100 million every year to pay for high ranking executives to enjoy parties in London and luxury suites at major league baseball games in the name of ‘travel promotion,’ ” Coburn said Thursday.
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