MEMO: Stop Covering For Mary Landrieu
FROM: RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer
NRSC Communications Director Brad Dayspring
TO: News Media
RE: Stop Covering For Mary Landrieu
Earlier this summer, Senator Mary Landrieu, who has represented Louisiana in the Senate since 1997, was caught billing taxpayers for private airplane flights to fundraisers and campaign events. That’s a clear violation of the law.
She promised to conduct a full review, which she released—four days late—in a shameless Friday afternoon news dump. Her report revealed she billed 43 improper flights since 2002. Yes, 43. Now she is paying back over $33,000—approximately 11 percent of the money her official office spent on travel since 2002.
We’d expect outrage that a sitting Senator would violate the public trust in such a way and only admit wrongdoing when forced to do so. But since Friday the media, including Louisiana papers, have spent more time since praising the fact that she was paying back 12 years of improper charges than criticizing her for treating taxpayer dollars like her personal airline miles.
More than a decade of mismanaging taxpayer dollars is not an accident. At best it’s negligence – at worst, it’s willfully illegal behavior. Mary Landrieu is asking voters to re-elect her to another term in Washington, DC, and to trust her to spend their money wisely. Yet she is personally responsible for doing the opposite for at least 12 years.
As Chairman Priebus said Friday, “Forty-three inappropriately billed flights and misuse of tens of thousands in taxpayer dollars is a slap in the face to Louisianans. The sheer number of flights on the taxpayer dime warrants a more detailed investigation, and Senator Landrieu needs to open her books to a purely independent investigation.”
There are still outstanding questions that must be answered, especially since the senator’s investigation did not include flights between 1997 and 2002, which she initially promised to include.
What is Senator Landrieu hiding from 1997 to 2002?
Why has she listed no flights since March 2014 when she had previously been taking a flight almost every month?
Will Landrieu continue to bill taxpayers for private charter travel?
Does Landrieu take back her callous statement that the illegally spent taxpayer money wasn’t “going to send anyone to college. It’s not going to build any levees. It’s not going to help people pay their flood insurance.”
Shame on the media. Landrieu has been anything but forthcoming with information about her travel, waiting weeks before calling for an investigation, then missing her own deadline before trying to bury the story in a Friday news dump. Even then her report is far from the complete audit she promised voters. Yet, you’re not giving voters the full story, and you’re revealing either laziness or bias by failing to acknowledge the gravity of Landrieu’s transgressions.
Louisiana and the rest of America deserve better, and we’re happy to outline the facts for you to help you tell the whole story.
View Full Press Release : http://www.gop.com/general/memo-stop-covering-for-mary-landrieu/
