Friday, August 15, 2014

Caught Again: Landrieu Will Reimburse Taxpayers for Another Campaign Flight She Took 11 Months Ago



Caught Again: Landrieu Will Reimburse Taxpayers for Another Campaign Flight She Took 11 Months Ago
by Michael Patrick Leahy 14 Aug 2014, 10:27 AM PDT
CNN reported on Wednesday that Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) plans to reimburse taxpayers $5,700 for a charter flight she took eleven months ago in September 2013 from Shreveport, Louisiana to Dallas, Texas to attend a campaign fundraiser. It is against the law for elected public officials to pay for campaign activities with taxpayer funds.

This new report comes on the heels of a CNN report on Tuesday that Senator Landrieu reimbursed taxpayers $3,200 on August 4 for a round trip charter flight she took from New Orleans to a St. Charles, Louisiana campaign fundraiser on November 8, 2013.

CNN reported that Matthew Lehner, Senator Landrieu's director of communications, issued a statement on Wednesday attempting to explain this latest uncovered use of taxpayer funds for political purposes. "Sen. Landrieu was invited to an official evening event in Shreveport. She was traveling back to D.C. through Dallas, and a fundraiser in Dallas was added to her schedule. Out of an abundance of caution in case there was a cost allocation error connected to this flight, the Senate will be reimbursed for the (Shreveport to Dallas) flight."

Lehner's suggestion that Landrieu's charter flight from Shreveport, Louisiana back to Washington, D.C. was required to travel through Dallas, Texas stretches credulity. Dallas is 185 miles due west of Shreveport. Stopping in Dallas required going in the exact opposite direction of a direct flight plan east from Shreveport to Washington, D.C.

Landrieu's Republican opponents looking to defeat her in November's general election jumped on the growing scandal.

In a statement about this new charter flight revelation, Colonel Rob Maness said "[e]very day, new details about Sen. Mary Landrieu's questionable and illegal use of taxpayer dollars are exposed." 

"This isn't an isolated incident, it's an ongoing pattern-of-behavior," Maness added. "It's just as alarming that Sen. Landrieu has publicly acknowledged that absent this new scrutiny on how she uses taxpayer dollars, none of her activities would have been revisited. What does it say about Sen. Landrieu that the only reason why she won't continue to carelessly use taxpayer dollars to pay for charter flights, luxury hotels and political activities is because she got caught?"

Landrieu's other major Republican challenger, Congressman Bill Cassidy, had previously criticized Landrieu's late reimbursement of a charter flight to the Lake Charles, Louisiana campaign fundraiser.

News of this second previously unreported use of taxpayer funds for campaign events by Sator Landrieu is certain to intensify scrutiny of every taxpayer funded trip Landrieu has taken during her three terms in the United States Senate. With the discovery of two campaign trips funded by the taxpayers already, it seems likely that additional revelations may well be on their way.

Mary Landrieu
Mary L. Landrieu is a U.S. Senate senator, and William Knapp was her media consultant.                                                                                                                          
 
Note: William Knapp was Mary L. Landrieu’s media consultant, a partner at Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, and is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker.
Anita B. Dunn is a managing director at the SKDKnickerbocker, married to Robert F. Bauer, head of media for the Barack Obama Presidential Library, was a political consultant for Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, the communications director for the Barack Obama administration, a senior political adviser for Tom Daschle, William W. Bradley’s chief of staff, and produced an ad campaign for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Robert F. Bauer is married to Anita B. Dunn, was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration, and personal counsel for Barack Obama.
Barack Obama’s personal counsel was Robert F. Bauer, an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, is the president for the Barack Obama administration, and the honoree for the Barack Obama Presidential Library.
R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP, and her brother is Craig M. Robinson.
Craig M. Robinson is Michelle Obama’s brother, a friend of Martin Nesbitt, and Penny S. Pritzker’s was his basketball coach to children's team.
Martin Nesbitt is Craig M. Robinson’s friend, Barack Obama’s friend, heading the fundraising effort for the Barack Obama Presidential Library, and was a VP at the Pritzker Realty Group.
Penny S. Pritzker was the chairman for the Pritzker Realty Group, Craig M. Robinson’s basketball coach for the children's team, the national finance chair, fundraiser for the 2008 Barack Obama presidential campaign, a co-chair for the 2009 Barack Obama inaugural committee, a fundraiser, national co-chair for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign, a contributor for the 2013 Barack Obama inaugural committee, the host for the Barack Obama fund-raising dinner, 7/2/2008, is the secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce for the Barack Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).
George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Susan E. Rice was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a stockholder in the TransCanada Corporation.
TransCanada Corporation is a SKDKnickerbocker client, and the proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Squier Knapp Dunn Communications is a merged company with SKDKnickerbocker.
Anita B. Dunn is a managing director at the SKDKnickerbocker, married to Robert F. Bauer, head of media for the Barack Obama Presidential Library, was a political consultant for Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, the communications director for the Barack Obama administration, a senior political adviser for Tom Daschle, William W. Bradley’s chief of staff, and produced an ad campaign for the Keystone XL pipeline.
William Knapp was a partner at Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, Mary L. Landrieu’s media consultant, and is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker.
Mary L. Landrieu’s media consultant was William Knapp, and is a U.S. Senate senator.
Tom Daschle’s senior political adviser was Anita B. Dunn, a nominee for health and human services secretary for the Barack Obama administration, is the chairman for the Center for American Progress, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).
George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was a supporter for the Center for American Progress, and the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Center for American Progress, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), the Sundance Institute, and the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), a director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ed Griffin’s interview with Norman Dodd in 1982
(The investigation into the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace uncovered the plans for population control by involving the United States in war)
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) was a funder for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank).
Ted Turner is a co-chairman for the Nuclear Threat Initiative (think tank), and the founder of CNN.
William W. Bradley is a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank), a director at the Starbucks Corporation, Mellody L. Hobson’s mentor, and Anita B. Dunn was his chief of staff.
Mellody L. Hobson’s mentor is William W. Bradley, a director at the Starbucks Corporation, a trustee at the Sundance Institute, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Susan E. Rice was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration, and a stockholder in the TransCanada Corporation.
TransCanada Corporation is a SKDKnickerbocker client, and the proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Squier Knapp Dunn Communications is a merged company with SKDKnickerbocker.
Anita B. Dunn is a managing director at the SKDKnickerbocker, married to Robert F. Bauer, head of media for the Barack Obama Presidential Library, was a political consultant for Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, the communications director for the Barack Obama administration, a senior political adviser for Tom Daschle, William W. Bradley’s chief of staff, and produced an ad campaign for the Keystone XL pipeline.
William Knapp was a partner at Squier Knapp Dunn Communications, Mary L. Landrieu’s media consultant, and is a managing director at SKDKnickerbocker.
Mary L. Landrieu’s media consultant was William Knapp, and is a U.S. Senate senator.


                                      

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